The Saiy-jin Scouts
by CrystaL Rose
Summary: What if King Vegeta knew Freiza was planning on destroying Vegeta...
1. Prologue

Hey you people out there! This is a kinda weird fic that got started off of an idea that just sort of came to me, so here we go.  
  
Disclaimer: No I don't own Dragon Ball Z or Sailor Moon.  
  
  
The Saiy-jin Scouts by Crystal Rose  
  
Prologue~  
  
In the dark recesses of a room sat a throne. On the throne, a man sat impatiently in the shadows, waiting for his messenger to return. With his head resting in one hand, the fingers of his other hand drummed on the throne's arm with annoyance. One could sense the man's fiery temper, his eyes hot like coals, burning into you in what seemed to be constant anger. His hair stood straight up in spikes, a dark brown that matched the tail that thumped unconsciously against the throne in his irritation. He suddenly straightened and began to rub his bearded chin as he thought of what he would do to punish the insolent messenger he had sent to do his bidding. He smirked, a horrifying sight. Just as fate would have it, a tap on the throne room doors sounded,   
announcing the messenger's return.   
  
"COME IN!" his voice boomed. One of the throne doors creaked open slightly and, ever so cautiously, a head of black hair peeked in, then the man hesitantly opened the door further to step into the room. It was painfully obvious that the man was terrified of him as he trembled in his presence. He quickly shook himself out of his stupor to drop to one knee, his head bowed low as a sign of great respect.   
  
"Your majesty!" The man quaked with fear as the great King Vegeta made no move for him to rise.   
  
"What news have you brought me, you insolent rat," the King spat out, detested. He had been suspecting for quite a while now that Freiza had been plotting his demise. He need only some proof of his scheming to confirm Freiza's traitorous nature.   
  
"I-I bring bad news, your majesty," the man stuttered.   
  
"Well, get on with it!" the king ordered in a most annoyed tone.   
  
"Freiza . . . I-I over heard him talking with one of his mignons, Z-Zarbon I think . . ." his voice began to fade.  
  
"Yes?" The king's tail bristled. Seeing this, the man's eyes widened in horror as he struggled to continue his report in a more hurried pace.  
  
"H-He, I mean Freiza, was talking with Zarbon about what he would do once the Saiy-jins were out of the way. He then began raving madly in a multiple of languages . . ."  
  
"Did you catch what he said?!" the king swiftly cut in, the messenger's statement catching his interest.  
  
"N-no. Most of the languages I could not understand well enough, your majesty, but . . ."  
  
"But what!!" the king roared, utterly frustrated with the man's lack of ability to communicate.  
  
"But I did catch it on tape," the man rushed out, the words tumbling over each other, " . . . Your majesty?" the man inquired at the kings sudden silence.  
  
"Give it to me," the king instructed calmly, "Now . . ." the king said when he saw the man made no move to hand him over the object. As the man shakily handed him the tape, the king snatched his hand in a tight grip.  
  
"Yes . . . your majesty?" the man squeaked.  
  
"Will you do me a favor?" the king smiled darkly.  
  
"A-Anything, your majesty," the man began to tremble once more.  
  
"Say hello to Satan for me, will you?" The king smirked as his other hand became ablaze with fire, power pulsating through his veins. In a flash of blinding light, where the man once stood was only a slightly blackened floor with ashes scattered all about. The king's smirk deepened.  
  
"Now," the king spoke as he turned his attention to the tiny black box in his hand, "Let's see what secrets Freiza's been hiding under his sleeve."   
  
Turning the device on, the king could distinctly hear Freiza=s rambling about destroying the Saiy-jin race and establishing their superiority. He was mildly shocked at the discovery. Thinking Freiza had only wanted to assassinate him in order to enslave his people, he had not expected his entire race to be at stake. He had to devise a plan to outsmart Freiza, and quick. The legacy of the Saiy-jins must live on. He would make sure of it.   
  
Standing up now, the king began to pace back and forth in thought, as he pondered what the best course of action would be. Hours and hours went by unnoticed as he continued to plot. Then, suddenly . . .  
  
"Yes, that's it!" the king decided.   
  
He had thought up a plan so ingenious, even Freiza couldn't suspect. The king smirked, satisfied with himself. Now, to decide which men would be best for the job.   
  
"Hmm, GARDOFF!" The king called for his statician. A small man with glasses perched upon a long thin nose appeared beside the king instantly.   
  
"Your majesty, what is it you need me to assist you with?" The humble man asked as he bowed before the king.  
  
"Gardoff, which five men rank highest in the elite army?" The king asked as the man pulled out a small device.  
  
"Well, your majesty, let's see. . . First there is Bardock, captain of the elite army, then Valdor, then Matiox, then Cyron, and Rappa. Unfortunately, Rappa is out of commission."  
  
"I see. Who ranks after Rappa?" After a time of silence, a look of dismay crossed the man's face.  
  
"Hmm, your majesty, this just won't do. The power levels of those below fifth ranking are significantly lower than the targeted range."  
  
"Well then, I'll just have to substitute as the last man . ." the king mumbled.   
  
"What did you say, your majesty?" Gardoff asked.  
  
"Nothing. You're dismissed," the king said with a wave of his hand.   
  
"GUARDS!" the king commanded, "Inform Bardock, Valdor, Matiox and Cyron of the elite army that they are to report to me immediately."   
  
"Yes, your majesty," the two guards bowed and quickly went on their way.  
  
Once alone, the king pondered his decision. Yes, it would work. While he was gone, Freiza would surely not attack Vegeta-sei, for his demise was Freiza's main goal. What a perfect way to prolong his people's destruction and continue the royal bloodline. His thoughts were abruptly interrupted by the sound of knocking.  
  
"Come in," the king commanded. Four men walked in dressed in armor, each with scouters of their own. They all looked quite similar with spiky black hair and brown tails.   
  
"Bardock," the king addressed the captain, "I have a special mission for you and your men here."  
  
"What kind of mission, may I ask, your majesty?" Bardock questioned the king.   
  
"Lets just call it a . . . mission of proliferation," the king smirked at the looks of confusion his men held. Bardock, the captain of the elite army stepped forward.  
  
"Sir, I'm not sure we understand."   
  
"Bardock. You and your men have been selected as the top most ranking of the elite army. It was for that reason you were chosen to pass on the great legacy of us Saiy-jins, so that our race may still survive." At this, the captain's eyes widened.   
  
"Your majesty! What are you saying? What great threat to our race do you speak of?" the king sighed, agitated.  
  
"That is none of your concern. All I ask is that you follow orders," the king replied coldly. The captain stiffened.  
  
"Yes, sir."  
  
The rest of the men, as well as their captain, were silent for the remaining time they were there, listening to their king's plan of salvation with shocked ears. They were to be sent off to another galaxy, each of them to a different planet. Once there, they would seek a suitable mate and produce at least one offspring in the time given to them before they would be called back to Vegeta-sei. What shocked them the most was that they would be accompanied by none other than the king himself.  
  
Finally, all was set to go as planned thought King Vegeta. He and his four elite soldiers would be sent off in a few days. Freiza would just have to wait while the people of Vegeta-sei rejoiced in hearing the news of another conquering quest. He smirked. Things were going wonderfully.   
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
And there you have it! Tell me what you think at crystal_rose@senshi-mail.zzn.com   
  
Crystal Rose ^_~ 


	2. Chapter 1

Well here's chapter one. Hope ya like it!  
  
Disclaimer: No, I don't own Dragon Ball Z or Sailor Moon.  
  
  
The Saiy-jin Scouts by Crystal Rose   
  
Chapter 1~  
  
Squealing could be heard as five young girls ran through the hallways of the great moon palace. It was a very special day as all five princesses of the galaxy had been born exactly thirteen years ago. A strange yet wonderful blessing, the five girls were the best of friends and each year would get together to celebrate their birthdays, each of their planets hosting at one time or another. This year it had been the moon's turn to host the wonderful event and they were especially excited to do so because of the fact that the girls were finally coming of age and entering womanhood.   
  
"Hurry up, girls," a voice could be heard saying, "I have a brief announcement to make."   
  
The owner of the voice stood tall and regal, Queen Serenity of the Moon kingdom. She patiently awaited the arrival of the young princesses, knowing that they would be here any second. Almost as if someone had read her mind, a knock resounded on the doors of the royal quarters. Looking towards the doors, Queen Serenity sat down upon one of the many chairs in the room to invite whom ever was there in.  
  
"Come in," the Queen's voice gently commanded.   
  
At that, one of the doors creaked open to allow a head of light navy blue hair and a pair of darker navy blue eyes to peek in. The girl's hair was cut just below the ears and her dark eyes seemed to contain some hidden knowledge in their deep blue depths. Ah, yes. The ever punctual Princess Ami of Mercury. She was by far the most intelligent of the group. Quiet and timid by nature, the child genius was admired for her many talents and was the most responsible of the five princesses. Even now, while she stood there awaiting the queen's response to her arrival, she stood still, looking away from the queen as if embarrassed.   
  
"Your majesty," the princess curtsied. The queen motioned for her to rise.  
  
"Ami, first to arrive as always, I see." At this the young girl blushed, then stepped forward to speak.  
  
"Your majesty, may I ask . . . why you have called for the other princesses and I? Is anything wrong?" The queen smiled gently at the girl.  
  
"Do not worry, Ami. I have only called for you and the girls to discuss your birthday celebration," the queen chuckled as the sound of shoes scuffling through the hallway were heard.  
  
  
"That must be them now."   
  
"Not a second later came two young girls bursting into the room, panting from lack of breath. One of the girls had fiery red hair that flowed down past her waist and a pair of bright red eyes with specks of orange in them, tinting them a slight red-orange color. Her appearance was not unlike a blazing fire, though it was justly so, as she was the Princess Rei of Mars and had a temper that seemed to literally catch on fire. She was the spiritual one of the group and had taken to the ways of a priestess since she was very young. She has great discipline and concentration that have formed from her devotion, yet she also has a stubborn side. Standing beside her was Lita, the Princess of Jupiter. Tall and foreboding, the girl had dark brown hair tinted a slight auburn with forest green eyes that just seemed to sparkle. She was a fighter and by far the strongest of the group who loved the art of battle. Standing strong and determined, she could easily intimidate another. The queen smiled at them as they both moved to curtsy.  
  
"Your majesty," the girls uttered breathlessly.   
  
"Rei, Lita. I'm glad you could join us," the queen chuckled, AMay I ask why you were in such a hurry?" The queen's eyes twinkled with amusement as the two girls blushed, embarrassed to have been caught doing something so juvenile as running through the halls. Lita, the princess of Jupiter, stepped forward to explain.   
  
"Uh, we were racing to see who could get here faster, your majesty."   
  
"Oh, I see."  
  
The girl bowed her head, feeling foolish. It was at this time that Rei, princess of Mars,   
decided to step in and help her friend out.  
  
"We're very sorry for being so disruptive. It wont happen again, your majesty."   
  
"Oh, girls," the queen began laughing softly, "I was only joking. It's your birthday and you   
should be allowed to have some fun."   
  
The two girls blinked, surprised, then slowly began laughing along with the queen while Ami, who had been standing to the side, giggled slightly at her friends' behavior. When the laughter had finally died down, the two girls noticed that not everyone had arrived yet.   
  
"Your majesty, where is Princess Serena and Mina?" Lita questioned the queen.   
  
"I honestly don't know, Lita. I'm sure those two are on their way, though."   
  
"Knowing Serena, she's probably forgotten," Rei mumbled.   
  
"I certainly have not," a voice replied softly.   
  
  
Standing at the door was a girl with extremely pale blond hair streaming from two buns atop her head to touch her calves. Her eyes were a light blue grey and were soft and compassionate. Queen Serenity looked upon her daughter, Princess Serena of the moon, with great love and care. Her daughter was a dreamer and, like she, kind and gentle. However, that was only one facet of her personality. She was also childish and loved to get into mischief. Mature   
and peaceful at one moment, then mischievous and childish the next, Serena was indeed an interesting person, and that was what she was loved for the most: her great personality and her heart of gold, for she had the largest, purest heart.   
  
"Hello, Serena. The girls were just wondering where you were," the queen smiled.   
  
"Yes, I know." Her eyes had a mischievous twinkle in them as she moved her gaze to Rei.   
  
"Hmph," the fiery girl crossed her arms in reply.   
  
"But, wait. Where's Mina?" Lita pointed out.   
  
"Right here," a cheerful voice called out as a girl stepped out from behind Serena.   
  
She had hair that was a sunny blond color and almost reached her knees with yellowish orange eyes that positively glowed. She was very similar to Serena, except while her friend gave off a feeling of calm and peacefulness, she simply radiated energy and excitement. She was Princess Mina of Venus and the most cheerful out of the princesses.  
  
"There you are, Mina," the queen smiled, AThat makes all five of you then, right?"  
  
"Right!" The girls shouted in all their excitement.  
  
"Now, back to what I called you all here for. Tonight, there will be a ball in celebration of your birthdays. The whole kingdom will be here as well as many other nobles of the galaxy. I hope you'll all be on your best behavior and act like the ladies I know you are," the queen smiled at the group of girls.  
  
"Your majesty, if you might permit me to ask," the ever polite Ami trailed off.  
  
"Yes, Ami? What is it you wish to know?"  
  
"Will our parents be attending the ball?"   
  
"Why, Ami. Of course they will. Not only that, but after the ball, before you all go to bed, I'm sure your parents will stop by to see you before they leave." Ami smiled, relieved.   
  
"Oh dear! Mother, what time is it?"  
  
"It looks to be a quarter past four, darling. Is something wrong?" Queen Serenity looked slightly worried about her daughter's sudden panicking while the rest of the princesses looked on, curious.  
  
"Didn't you say the ball was at six? If it's already a quarter past four, then that leaves us only about one and a half hours to get ready!@  
  
The queen smiled at her daughter while the girls began to giggle.   
  
"Oh, is that all," laughed Lita. Serena turned upon her friend.  
  
"What do you mean, is that all? You=re not the one who has to deal with all this hair!" Serena looked despairingly at herself.   
  
"I'll never be ready in time." The girls surrounded their friend with comforting words and a hug or two.  
  
"Don't worry Sere, I'll help you do your makeup," Mina soothed. Lita was quick to catch on.  
  
"I can help you with your dress." Ami stepped towards her friend shyly.   
  
"Yes, and I can fix your hair, Serena . . . if you want me too."   
  
"Don't worry Sere, we'll all help you get ready. Everything will turn out fine," Rei put her hand on Serena's shoulder in a comforting way.   
  
"Aw, you guys, thanks. You're the best!" They all go into a group hug and happily turn to leave.   
  
"Bye, girls. See you at the ball."   
  
"Bye, your majesty," the group chorused.   
  
Back in their chambers, the girls quickly bathed and dressed themselves. After finishing meticulously applying makeup and primping their hair, they were set to go and headed for Serena's room. Inside, Serena was just finished bathing and had almost finished drying her hair, when she heard a knock on the doors.   
  
"Who is it?"   
  
"Sere, it's me, Lita," a muffled voice stated.   
  
"Oh, Lita come in!"   
  
In a rush, Serena hastily threw on a robe and opened the door to allow her friend's entry. Standing in the doorway was Lita wearing a beautiful strapless dress, which had a dark green velvet bodice hugging her chest and waist, where the material went into a V-shape and a lighter shade of green material flowed from there to her ankles. Her hair had been put up in the usual ponytail and, as always, a pair of pink rose earrings adorned her ears.   
  
  
"Oh, Lita. You look wonderful!" Her friend smiled at the praise.   
  
"Thanks, Sere, but lets get working on you," Lita said, stressing the you. She gave her friend a good look over and began chuckling, "You haven't even gotten dressed yet!"   
  
"Yes, I know it's all dreadfully funny," Serena rolled her eyes and pushed her friend into her room as another hurried knock sounded on the doors.   
  
"Serena, it's me, Mina! Rei's here too!" A cheerful voice called out.  
  
"Come right in! The door's open!"   
  
Serena looked up to see Mina bounce into the room, followed by a more subdued Rei. Mina wore a beautiful, yet simple, sleeveless pale orange dress that flowed down to her feet. She also wore a pair of yellow heart shaped earrings and, in her hair, an orange bow. Rei, on the other hand, wore a bright red dress that hugged her upper body and puffed out into a short skirt with   
many white layers beneath. She had on red star shaped earrings and a lovely pink cherry blossom in her hair.   
  
"You look wonderful!" Mina smiled while Rei just sighed.   
  
"Serena, Serena. Look at you. You're a mess!" Rei chastised.   
  
"Oh, Serena," Mina giggled, "Here."   
  
Mina sat her friend down at the vanity and began to carefully brush out her long hair. After that had been done, she sent her into the bathroom to change. Serena emerged in a shimmering silver dress that touched her toes, the short sleeves puffing out at the shoulders. Her hair flowed down her back in a waterfall of white.  
  
"How do you like my dress?" Serena looked around at her friends, nervous of their opinion.   
  
"It suits you well," Lita stated. Mina soon followed with a compliment of her own while Rei just rolled her eyes.  
  
"You look very beautiful," a small voice came from the door.   
  
The girls all turned to see Ami in a wintry blue dress. She had small sapphire clips in her hair and sapphire earrings. The dress had long sleeves and flowed down to touch her toes. The timid girl smiled at her friends.   
  
"Thank you Ami. You look absolutely wonderful in that dress, too," Serena gushed. Ami blushed slightly, then decided to get down to business.   
  
"Well, we better help you out, Serena, otherwise I don't think we'll make it to the ball in time, Ami suggested.  
  
"Okay."   
  
Ami smiled and began to put up Serena=s hair into her customary hairstyle. While that was being done, Mina began to apply some powder to Serena's face, adding just a bit of gloss to her lips. Rei looked around for something to put in Serena's hair and Lita picked out a pair of silver slippers to match her dress. When all was done, the girls stood back to admire their work.   
  
"Well, how do I look?"   
  
"I think you look positively fabulous!" Mina chirped.  
  
"Yeah, gorgeous," Lita added.   
  
"Very beautiful," Ami nodded in approval. Rei stood silent.  
  
"Rei?" Serena questioned her friend.  
  
"You look just fine," Rei sighed.   
  
"Thanks Rei," Serena beamed.   
  
"Oh no," Mina gasped, "We're going to be late!"   
  
The girls all rushed out of the room, hoping to get to the ball as soon as possible, for it was already 6:15. When they finally arrived, they could see hundreds of people there. Some were dancing and others stood at the refreshment tables making conversation or silently watching others.  
  
Together, the girls made quite a picture, all of them being so alike yet so different. They were the five princesses of the galaxy, otherwise known as the infamous five for their interesting differences and everlasting friendship. That was another great reason for the annual event's popularity, and yet, that was not why most of the people had come. The importance of the event lay in the fact that by coming of age, the princesses' magical abilities will become stronger and undergo significant changes. As children of royal blood, they each have an inborn magic that they inherit along with the throne. The nature of each child;'s magic corresponds with their planets. Because of their heritage, the magic within them is extremely strong and they each began to train in the art of magic from the age of six, learning the craft as a subject that was required in their education. Now that they have mastered a plentiful amount of techniques, the time has come for them to inherit more of their heritage and become even stronger. It is so important to the people, this day that has finally come, for they are the galaxy's future rulers and protectors.   
  
The five girls stood near the door, huddled in a group, searching for their parents.  
  
"I see my mother," Mina whispered excitedly to them all.   
  
On the far side of the room, there stood a woman who had long blond hair that went halfway down her back. She was the beautiful ruler of Venus, Queen Aphrodite. Beside her stood a tall man with sandy blond hair. Mina narrowed her eyes at the sight of him, her father. She clenched her hands into fists with great anger and frustration. She had never gotten along with her father and it was hardly because she didn't like him. No, it was the way with which he treated her. So distant at times, it was as if she were an alien person to him, and not the daughter that he should have loved and cared for. He was anything but loving and tender. Instead, he came off as cold and insensitive, acting as if he wanted nothing to do with her, pushing her away and treating Her indifferently.   
  
As if sensing Mina's distress, the girls all looked concerned while Serena and Lita each laid a hand on one of her shoulders. Mina immediately unclenched her fists and sighed, looking down. He friends had all witnessed her father's behavior and knew of the nonexistent father-daughter relationship between the two. They all hated him for it, especially because he was the only thing that could bring their chipper friend down. Strangely enough, Mina was the only one of them who had a father, yet none of them envied her at all.  
  
"Let it go Mina," Rei soothed, "Let it go." Mina smiled, trying to encourage her friends that she was alright as she made her way towards the couple.   
  
"Hey, look Rei. It looks like your mother," Serena exclaimed.   
  
"Oh, yeah. That's her," Rei started forward, then turned back to give her friends a questioning look. They all nodded, telling her to go ahead. Rei smiled and happily left.   
  
"Hmm, you think there are any handsome men around here?" Lita looked around the ballroom. Serena just laughed.  
  
"Lita, even so. The men here are all so much older than us! You think we=d stand a chance to dance with them?" Serena looked at her friend for an answer.  
  
"Oh, come on, Serena. We're princesses. That ought to do us some good," Lita teased.   
  
"Alright then. Ami, what do you think?" The unsuspecting girl's eyes widened a bit.  
  
"Oh, I don't know," Ami began to blush,"I guess we could go and try . . ."   
  
"Try what, Ami?" Serena prodded.  
  
"Um," Ami's face became even more red, "try to . . . get a dance partner?@ Serena smiled at her shy friend.   
  
"So it's settled then," Lita grinned, Alet's go over to the refreshment table. Looks like there are many guys over there."   
  
"No thank you, girls," Ami shook her head, "I'll just head over there to where the orchestra is and listen to some music, okay?"  
  
"Oh, alright Ami," Serena smiled, "We'll join you later."  
  
The two girls slowly walked towards the refreshments while Ami sat down at one of the many tables with some punch. She knew of what was coming, what this day meant. The responsibilities, the work. They would all have to work hard and strive to become what their planets expected of them, so that they may take the throne. Lost in deep thought, Ami did not realize that a young man had just sat down across from her.   
  
"Excuse me," a deep voice spoke, AMay I ask why a young lady such as yourself is sitting here all alone?@   
  
Shocked, Ami looked up to see a man in his twenties with dark brown hair and hazel colored eyes smiling charmingly at her. Blushing, she looked down at the table.  
  
"Oh, forgive me. I did not see you sit down," Ami apologized.   
  
"It's quite all right, Princess Ami," The young man replied, "I could see you were thinking about quite a serious matter."   
  
"Yes, well . . ." Ami stopped in mid-sentence as Queen Serenity stood to speak.   
  
Smiling happily at all of the guests, Queen Serenity began her speech, after which she would introduce the girls.  
  
"Today, we are all gathered here to witness an amazing happening. The future rulers of our galaxy take another step closer to the throne as they enter into adulthood . . . Princess Mina of Venus . . . Princess Rei of Mars . . . Princess Lita of Jupiter . . . Princess Ami of Mercury . . .and my daughter, Princess Serena of the moon."   
  
As the queen announced their names and pointed them out, they each smiled at the guests, acknowledging the queen's introduction.   
  
"I hope that you'll all enjoy yourselves and . . ." Just as Queen Serenity was about to finish, a loud explosion sounded, causing the grounds to shake. Debris flew everywhere as the ballroom walls crumbled to reveal the vulnerable people inside. As the dust began to settle, the blood curdling laughter of a woman could be heard.  
  
"Who are you," Queen Serenity demanded.  
  
"I am Galateia and Lord Cosmos has claimed this planet as his!" At that, the woman blasted Queen Serenity with immense power, sending her majesty flying into the wall. By now almost all of the guests had fled from the room in terror and only the princesses and their parents stood.   
  
"Mother! No!!" Serena shrieked in horror as she watched her mother slump into unconsciousness.   
  
The woman only laughed, "Don't worry, I'm not done yet!" The queens all stood ready with their own magic, waiting to be attacked. The woman named Galateia shot out a beam of energy straight at the Queen of Mars.  
  
"Mother, WATCH OUT!" Rei tried to warn her mother. Luckily, she was prepared and put up her hands to block it with a magical force field. Unfortunately, Galateia's beam overpowered her and she was pushed back violently, slamming into the wall with a thud.   
  
Galateia's next target was the Queen of Venus and Jupiter.   
  
"Mom! Move out of the way!" Jupiter called out to her mother.  
  
"Mother!" Mina cried out.   
  
As each of their parents toppled to the ground in defeat, the girls just watched, frozen in shock until anger took over. Each of the girls began glowing in their planet's color as rage built up within. They could feel a new power surging within them, the sensation giving them a rush of energy. With their fists clenched so tight they were shaking, the girls looked around their small   
group in mutual agreement. They would fight.   
  
"You will pay," Serena whispered through gritted teeth, "You...will... PAY!"   
  
Suddenly, Serena was enveloped in a blinding white flame. Her hair began to change from pale blond to a shimmering silver. Her eyes opened as they too began to change to a mix of silver with a hint of light blue. Standing beside her was Lita, who was engulfed in a bright green flame, her hair changing from its dark brown to a shocking copper red. Her forest green eyes lightened to a bright green. A brilliant orange flame erupted about Mina, changing her blond hair to a rich golden orange color and her yellow-orange eyes to a solid bright orange. An intense red flame surrounded Rei and her fiery red hair darkened to an ebony tinted with red, while her blazing red eyes lost their orange color and darkened to a reddish black. At the same time, Ami had been consumed by a wild blue flame. Her light blue hair darkened to a bluish black as did her navy blue eyes.  
  
When the transformations were complete, the flames faded and the girls stood anew, feeling the power surge through their veins. For a brief moment after the transformation, Queen Serenity gained enough consciousness to open her eyes.   
  
"The prophecy," she whispered before slumping back to the ground.  
  
  
As the girls stood silent, reborn by this new power, they glared at the now speechless woman and their minds seemed to seek out a hidden knowledge of their new power. Stepping forward, the princess of Jupiter stared into the eyes of Galateia, her gaze burning with pure hatred and anger.  
  
"By the power of Jupiter! LIGHTENING HURRICANE!!" Lita began to spin as bolts of lightning made their way towards Galateia, surrounded by the same green flame of her transformation, the light of her power.  
  
"WHAT!! Lord Cosmos said NOTHING of WARRIORS on this PLANET!!" An enraged   
Galateia screamed in surprise as the attack headed her way.   
  
"Really?!" Rei smirked, "Then maybe I should give him something to think otherwise!!" she stated as she stepped forward.  
  
"By the power of Mars! ERUPTING VOLCANO!!" Blazing fire surrounded by a red light rushed towards Galateia, who tried to dodge, but failed miserably.   
  
"AHHH!! YOU ANNOYING LITTLE WRETCHES!" Galateia began furiously shooting   
balls of energy at them.  
  
"Oh, no you don't!" Ami bravely stood, ready to fight.   
  
"By the power of Mercury! ICE BLIZZARD!!" A cold wind blew a flurry of icicles towards Galateia.   
  
"You think you can defeat me?! Think again!!"   
  
Galateia seemed to disappear as she ran at an amazing speed towards the King of Venus, who had just awoken. Standing in front of him, her hand raised, she wordlessly threatened his life.   
  
"NO!" Mina rushed in front of her father, surprising the girls and, most of all, her father.  
  
"Mina," he breathed in wonder. She turned to give her father a weak smile.  
  
"Don't worry, father. I won't let her hurt you," she promised, her voice shaking with emotion and her eyes shining with tears. Turning back around to face Galateia, her resolve hardened as she took a step forward, her eyes piercing like crystal shards.  
  
"By the power of Venus! HEART ATTACK!!" A cluster of hearts spiraled towards Galateia, preventing her from getting any closer to the Venusian King.  
  
"AHH!! Why don't you just DIE!" Galateia gave an utterly futile attempt at blocking the attack with her own energy force fields, which resulted in her crashing into a wall as the spiraling hearts hit their mark. She just groaned and clutched her stomach in an obvious sign of pain.  
  
  
"Mother," Serena suddenly whispered, her eyes closed as a tear streaked down her cheek, "I will save you." Serena's eyes shot open in that instant, hard and determined.   
  
"By the power of the Moon! FALLING STAR!!" Serena raised her arms as a great amount of energy collected atop her head. When the power had reached its zenith, she brought the ball of energy crashing down from above, landing straight upon Galateia. An eerie silence drapes over the room as the light from the explosion of energy dissipates. The woman can be seen holding her shoulder, bending over in great pain. She practically growls in anger.  
  
"You haven't seen the last of me! YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE LAST OF LORD COSMOS!!" With that, the defeated woman disappeared before their eyes.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
So, how was it? Good? Bad? EMAIL!!  
  
Crystal Rose ^_~  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	3. Chapter 2

And here is chapter two!!  
  
Disclaimer: No, I do not own Dragon Ball Z or Sailor Moon.  
  
  
The Saiy-jin Scouts by Crystal Rose  
  
Chapter 2~  
  
At the departure of Galateia, the girls relaxed, finding themselves extremely exhausted as they got down to the task of checking on their parents. Each of the girls wearily made their way to them, while Ami stood silent, unmoving as she found herself suddenly aware of a little gift their   
transformations had bestowed upon them.  
  
"Oh. Oh, my," The bluish black haired girl muttered in her current state of distraction.  
  
The other girls all looked to Ami for an explanation, but the sight of her was more than enough to silence them all. Standing there was Ami, staring fascinated at a long ape-like tail that snaked out from under her dress, covered in bluish black hair. It curled elegantly, as if acknowledging their stares. In seeing that, their eyes all widened extremely as they seemed to gulp   
in nervousness before turning to look down in fear. Sure enough, four tails were revealed in turn and each girl seemed to blanche at the sight.   
  
"Um, Ami," A small voice quivered, "Was this supposed to happen?" Princess Serena looked up at her friend in fear.  
  
"Huh? What did you say?" The bluish black haired girl snapped to attention.  
  
"Are you sure this is what they meant by gaining new powers?" Serena asked doubtfully, frightened that something had seriously gone wrong.  
  
"You know Serena," Ami looked back down at her new tail, "I really don't know for sure, but . . ." Here she trailed off, looking slightly uneasy with the fact that she really had no idea about what had caused the change of events and new nothing about their situation, which was much to say for such a child prodigy.   
  
"Well, I don't know about you girls," Mina stated, "but I'm with Serena."  
  
"Yeah, I mean really," Lita joined in, "Growing tails? Come on you guys, this just can't be right! This has got to be something else, otherwise there is something very wrong with us!"  
  
Rei, who had been quiet ever since, chose to speak right then.  
  
"Now, wait a second guys," Rei intervened, "Let's not get riled up over nothing."  
  
"Nothing?" Mina screeched, "We spouted TAILS for Pete's sake!"   
  
"Calm down, Mina!" Rei tried to explain, "All I'm saying is that THIS could be perfectly natural for all we know." The fiery girl pointed to her own tail that whipped around in frustration.   
  
  
"Natural," Serena squealed indignantly as she spun on her bluish black haired friend, "Ami?!"  
  
"Well, actually Serena, Rei could very well be right," the young girl stated calmly.   
  
"But, Ami!" Mina whined, "This is just too strange to be natural!"   
  
"I agree," Lita jumped in, "You give me one good reason to believe you!"  
  
"The prophecy," a soft voice came from behind them. Standing there was Queen Serenity, looking slightly haggard, but standing nonetheless.   
  
"Mother!" Serena ran to he mother in relief and hugged her tightly, "You're all right!"  
  
"Of course," the queen looked down fondly at her daughter.  
  
"Your majesty," the girls acknowledged the queen's presence. Queen Serenity smiled and searched the room to find the other queens and king strewn about, unconscious. She frowned slightly at the sight.  
  
"Oh dear, they must have taken some strong attacks," Queen Serenity looked a bit worried.  
  
"Will they be alright?" Mina asked, looking pointedly at her father.  
  
"I'm sure they'll come about any moment now," the queen reassured them.   
  
Ami stood silent, deep in thought as to what to do about their situation. It was all a big mystery to her and she couldn't come up with any reasonable answers. Her brow furrowed in concentration as she frowned deeply. Off to the side, Rei watched Ami's actions with a bit of concern, but decidedly tore her gaze away from her friend to focus on the queen.   
  
"Your majesty," Rei spoke with great authority, her serious tone bringing them all to attention, "What is this prophecy that you speak of?"   
  
The queen's face took on a grave expression as she seemed to struggle in deciding whether or not to inform the girls of the situation, telling them already that this was indeed a very serious issue by the way she acted. She looked into the eyes of each girl, searching, questioning if they were ready to know. Finally, she seemed to make a decision as she looked downwards and sighed heavily.   
  
"Lets go take care of your parents and make sure they're all right. I'll call for a meeting tomorrow, and then we can discuss this, alright?"   
  
"Yes, mother, but what will we do in the meantime?"  
  
  
"What do you mean, darling?"  
  
"Well, we can't very well go around like THIS can we?" Princess Serena pointed to her own silver haired tail.   
  
"That is precisely why the meeting is tomorrow. I want each of you to have a chance to adjust to your new powers and . . . anatomy."   
  
"Yes," A new voice spoke out, "You will each have to learn to master your new powers and abilities, how to use and mix your magic with it."  
  
Everyone turned to see a man in his twenties with dark brown hair and hazel colored eyes. A kind looking man he was, and he seemed to pose no threat, yet the girls all tensed at the sight of him. Then Ami gasped, recognizing him immediately as the man whom she had spoken to earlier that night.  
  
"It's you," Ami exclaimed. The man looked over to her and smiled.  
  
"Yes. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Skyler Hawks," the man bowed.  
  
"Ah, yes," Queen Serenity smiled, "The expert on all forms of magic and techniques." The man chuckled.  
  
"You could say that. I had come here to witness the celebration most looked forward to for the year, but I see that events took an unexpected turn."  
  
"Yes, unfortunately." The queen frowned for a moment, then brightened.  
  
"I would be most honored if you would stay here with us. Your knowledge and skill may prove very useful. I would be so grateful for your help."   
  
"Of course, your majesty. I would be more than glad to help you in any way possible. Whether it be as a source of information or helping you train the princesses in using their new powers and forms."   
  
While this was going on, Princess Serena stood frozen, trying to absorb all that they had said, when she suddenly burst out.   
  
"What?! You mean this is permanent?" The princess began to panic.   
  
"Darling, darling relax. It isn't, but you really shouldn't find it so terrible. It is part of your heritage and a natural part of your body. Don't look at it as some sort of unwanted disgusting thing, look at it as a part of you. It really is a beautiful thing, my dear, and a tail is nothing to be ashamed of."   
  
  
The princess seemed slightly shocked at her mothers open perspective and how she took it all so easily, but then suddenly understood how reasonable she was being and relaxed, not so upset anymore about her predicament. Now that she thought of it, it really was more like a gift. She smiled, her tail happily whipping about behind her.   
  
"Your right mother. I do have nothing to be ashamed of!"  
  
"Yeah! We're unique and beautiful," Mina chimed in, giggling.   
  
"Mm hmm," Lita nodded, eagerly agreeing, "What guy would want to resist this beautiful thing?" She pointed to her elegant tail, which was covered in bright red hair.   
  
"Oh brother," Rei rolled her eyes, "Just a moment ago, you were all so disgusted with your new tails, and now they're absolutely the most wonderful things!" She snorted in disbelief.   
  
The queen chuckled at the girls antics and how easily swayed they were on their opinions of their tails when it came to beauty.   
  
"Alright, girls. Now, settle down. We should most likely go see how your mothers are doing. Your father too," Queen Serenity added looking at Mina. All conversion halted to a stop at the queen's words.  
  
"Right!"   
  
The girls each headed off in the direction they had seen their parents in, leaving the queen and Skyler alone to talk. Serena was with Mina, searching for her friend's mother, while Mina searched for her father. The Queens and King all returned to consciousness abruptly and were taken to their rooms with help from the girls. Finally noticing the appearances of the girls, the queens turned shocked faces to Queen Serenity for confirmation of the transformation, for they all knew of it and what it meant. Queen Serenity merely nodded.   
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
After their parents had been left in their rooms to rest and recuperate, along with Mr. Hawks, the girls all returned to their rooms and decided to freshen up a bit and get to know their new selves a bit better. They had all agreed that they would get together later in Serena's room afterwards.  
  
At first, the girls had a bit of trouble getting used to their new appearances. Each time they glanced in a mirror, they would see a different, yet similar person. It could be a bit confusing at times, for they all looked the same, in terms of features, but hair and eye color were different, not   
to mention their new tails. They eventually had to admit, though, that their new looks weren't really that bad at all, just different, and exotic. When they had finally realized that, they quickly grew fond of their new looks and adapted to their tails, learning how to move about with the added weight, using their tails to balance themselves as they also learned how to use their newly developed muscles to move the appendage.   
  
Hours later, the girls sat quietly in their rooms. They had pretty much gotten the hang of using their tails and were now quite used to seeing themselves and their new appearances. They had all already bathed and were dressed in their night gowns as they crept into Serena's room and the clock neared midnight, the time that they had agreed to meet. Inside, Serena sat on her bed, her long silver hair undone and her tail curling and uncurling in impatience. The door suddenly creaked open.  
  
"Serena," a voice whispered, "It's me, Mina."  
  
"Oh, come in," Serena whispered back.   
  
In bounced Mina, her orange hair streaming behind and her eyes glowing a bright orange. Her tail swished back and forth happily.   
  
"Oh, Serena," Mina squealed, "This is so exciting!"  
  
"Yes, I know! It's all so mysterious with our new powers and us changing appearances like that," Serena replied, just as excited.  
  
"I think it's great!" The two girls turned to see Lita in the door, her tail hanging behind her with its tip curled.  
  
"Yeah! Totally wicked!" Rei stepped past Lita and into the room, her tail curving upward and dropping back into an arch as she crossed her arms and smirked at them.   
  
"Well, I suppose having a tail does have its advantages," another voice spoke out.   
  
There stood Ami, her tail hanging back obediently as she smiled slightly. Serena and Mina both began giggling uncontrollably, the others soon joining them. They truly were in a most odd situation, and the more they realized this, the funnier they found it to be. Eventually, though, they tired of laughing and found themselves lying upon Serena's bed, staring up at the ceiling as they   
spoke their minds.  
  
"Hey, you guys," wondered Serena, "What do you think is going on?"  
  
"I don't know," answered Rei, "but by the sound of it, it's important."   
  
"Yes," Ami spoke, "This is very unusual, but..." Ami trailed off in thought.  
  
"What Ami?" Mina turned over onto her stomach, her head resting in her hands.  
  
"Well," Ami's brow furrowed, "I think this may be connected with an ancient legend. Old and forgotten, it's not known to many."  
  
"What's the legend about?" Lita suddenly sat up, interested.  
  
"Sorry, but the only information that I have on it is that it is known as the legend of the mighty Saiy-jins."  
  
"Hmm," Rei thought for second. The word seemed to strike something in her memory from long ago.  
  
"Well, that's alright Ami," Mina touched Ami's shoulder in a reassuring fashion, "You did your best."  
  
"Oh!" Serena suddenly cried.  
  
"What?! What is it?" The girls all jumped to their feet in alarm.  
  
"Nothing, nothing. It's just that mother scheduled the meeting for early in the morning!" At this, all the girls relaxed and fell back onto the bed.  
  
"Oh, is that all," Rei sighed, exasperated.  
  
"What time is it?" Lita looked up to see the clock just striking one.  
  
"Eleven in the morning," Serena buried her face into her pillow.  
  
"Well, I guess we should all be going to bed then?" Ami smiled as she got up to leave.  
  
"Goodnight, guys," Serena called to her departing friends as she slipped quietly into bed.  
  
"Night, Sere," Rei replied as she tiptoed out of the room, the last one to go.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
And there you have it. Thoughts? Comments? EMAIL!!  
  
Crystal Rose ^_~  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	4. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: No! I don't own Dragon Ball Z or Sailor Moon!!  
  
The Saiy-jin Scouts By Crystal Rose  
  
Chapter 3 ~  
  
At the break of dawn, five young princesses were up and awake, chatting to each other excitedly while waiting for the meeting that was to take place in a few hours or so. They were all seated upon Serena's bed once again in an attempt to wait out the long hours ahead of them.   
  
"Oh, I'm just dying with curiosity!" Mina squealed with delight. Serena nodded in agreement.  
  
"Yeah, I know what you mean. I just can't wait any longer!"   
  
"Uh huh," Lita added in, sounding wistful.  
  
"Well, Serena, you know what they say," Rei smirked, "Curiosity killed the cat." Serena humped, her nose in the air as she closed her eyes, indignant.  
  
"Do I look like a cat?!" Rei eyed Serena's tail with amusement.  
  
"Well..." Giggling could be heard as Rei made her statement.   
  
"Oh!" Serena glared at the giggling Ami and threw a pillow at Rei in her   
frustration, who in turn threw one of her own. Soon enough, all of the girls were in an outrageous pillow fight, making quite a ruckus with all their screaming and laughing.   
  
"Ahem."   
  
The girls looked up in the middle of their fight to see a guard standing there, trying to keep a straight face. The princess's room was a mess! Feathers were everywhere, most of them in the girls' hair. Their clothes were also in a disarray as they stared frozen at the man in their nighties. However, after the initial shock was over, with one swift motion, the girls seemed to be in sudden control as they stood to address the man, as protocol demanded. The guard seemed to finally relax as he stated his purpose.  
  
"Your highnesses, Her majesty Queen Serenity wishes for you to join her in the dining room to discuss certain matters of importance."  
  
The girls' eyes widened as they frantically looked at the time. 10:30.  
  
"Yes, tell her we'll be right there," Serena told him. The man bowed and promtly left. The girls seemed to be in a sort of stupor when the man left, the idea of actually going to discover the truth of what was afoot a big challenge, frighteningly so. Ami, the practical one out of them, seemed to regain her voice first.  
  
"Come on, girls. We should hurry and get ourselves prepared for breakfast." Her soft lilting voice seemed to snap the rest of the girls out of their trance-like state. After a brief nod or 'ok', the girls scattered towards their own chambers in a rush.   
  
Throughout the entire meal, not a word was said except for the occasional 'pass the butter' or 'salt please.' Tension lay thick in the air as everyone anticipated the awaited moment. An hour later, after a splendid breakfast, everyone sat quietly around the table, waiting.   
  
"Alright, now that we are all here, I suppose we should begin."   
  
Queen Serenity sat at the head of the table in the royal dining room. Mr. Hawks sat beside her, along with each of the planet's respective leaders. The Queens and King all sat facing their children, the princesses, who fidgeted in anxiousness.   
  
"Alright, first thing's first. I suppose I should answer the question that's been weighing on all of your minds," Queen Serenity sighed.  
  
"Girls, this mysterious power of yours... the reason you have it, along with certain physical attributes, lies in your birth, your origin. I'm sure that by now, many of you have wondered why none of you have fathers and why you have no recollection of ever having one either?"  
  
All of the girls nodded in agreement, all except Mina, who looked more confused than ever.   
  
'My origin? What does her majesty mean? What about my father?' Mina's face   
scrunched up in confusion. Queen Serenity, not missing the princess's confusion sent a look of sympathy towards Queen Aphrodite of Venus. The woman had a look of shame on her face.  
  
"The truth is, over a decade ago, the planets of our galaxy were invaded by people of another. All male, they were from a planet they called Vegeta, a planet home to a warrior race. All five of them were elite soldiers, and the strongest on their planet. At first, we feared they had come in search of new land to conquer, but they assured us it was no such thing. They merely wanted to meet the planetary leaders for... reasons unknown."  
  
Queen Serenity's eyes glazed over as she recalled the first meeting between her and the strong warrior that had landed on her planet. He had seemed cruel and ruthless at first, yet he always kept a hold on humanity somehow and had never felt cold to her. He was...  
  
"Mother!" Startled from her reverie, Queen Serenity looked upon her daughter's frustrated face.  
  
"Yes, darling?"   
  
"You drifted off a bit there, mother." Serena looked downwards, "Sorry to have yelled."   
  
"It's quite alright."  
  
"Wait, so what happened next?" Mina directed her question towards her mother and leaned forward in anticipation.   
  
"Well," Queen Serenity continued, "We soon fell in love with these strong   
warriors, and the result of this was that you girls were born."  
  
As the queen expelled the air she had been holding in, an eerie silence swept across the room as the information was absorbed. All Thoughts bordered 'I'm half alien?' or 'Who is my father?' and 'Wonder what he looked like...' Once again, however, Amy was the first to break through the ice as she drew up the courage to speak.   
  
"Um, your majesty?" Ami squeaked out, "These warriors... they wouldn't happen to be..." Here, Ami paused uncertain as to whether or not she should continue.  
  
"Yes," Queen Serenity gently prodded the hesitant girl.  
  
"...Saiy-jin warriors?," Ami finally spoke and nodded, confirming her theory when she saw Queen Serenity's eyes widen slightly.  
  
"How did you know, Ami?"   
  
"Well, your majesty, last night I did some research and came up with a legend titled 'The Mighty Saiy-jins.' These saiyans seemed to fit the description quite well."  
  
Queen Serenity smiled, "Yes, you are correct Amy. They were indeed Saiy-jin warriors."   
  
"Queen Serenity," Rei spoke, "Why is it these Saiy-jins can only be learned of by legend?"  
  
"Ah, well that is simple. Although a mighty race they proved to be, a stronger force destroyed their home planet and any traces of their kind. With Vegeta-sei destroyed and the Saiy-jin race annhilated, a legend is all that is left."   
  
"But, your majesty," Mina protested fiercely, "How could they have come here if the race had been annhilated?"   
  
"A year or so after their departure from our galaxy, a large explosion was felt throughout the universe. It was then that we realized that Vegeta-sei was no more."   
  
Mina began to shake her head in denial, "No, no it can't be... I have a father... I do..." Her voice trailed off as tears trailed down her face, her eyes pleading as she looked at her mother, begging her to tell her the truth. She refused to believe her mother had done this to her, let her feel so unwanted and unloved, when the truth was that the only father she had ever known was a lie and her own true father was dead, long gone.   
  
"Mina," Queen Aphrodite looked at her daughter in regret for how things had played out. She was truly sorry, "Forgive me." The Queen of Venus then looked down at the table in an attempt to avoid the eyes of her child.   
  
"Mother," Mina whispered, "I ...."   
  
"Mina,"Queen Serenity's voice spoke softly, kindly, "You must understand that your mother wanted only the best for you."   
  
Lita, who was sitting beside Mina at the time, placed a hand on her shoulder and aimed her gaze towards her own mother.  
  
"Mother,"Lita sounded grave, "Is this true?" Lita's mother, Flora, the Queen of Jupiter smiled.  
  
"Yes." In return, Lita cracked a smile of her own.   
  
"It's no wonder with this strength of mine," Lita replied, trying to ease the tension in the room.   
  
"Queen Serenity," Ami suddenly cut in, "What I want to know is what are these powers of ours? Why did they just appear now and why have our physical appearances changed as well?"  
  
"I think this may be better explained by Mr. Hawks here," Queen Serenity nodded towards Skyler.  
  
"Thank you, your majesty. Now, what I have come to conclude is that each of you have always had this power, but also your planetary magic. Because magic is a simple substance that can be used, it is more like an object that can be called upon, drawn out. However, this other power of yours may lay dormant for decades before it is unleashed. I can see that it is not something to be used, but in a sense created, for this power is like an extension of yourself, the manipulating of your energy, your body. Do you understand?"  
  
Various questioning looks marred the confused faces of the girls, included some of their mothers as well.   
  
"Yes, " Ami spoke in a quiet voice, "Yes, I think I do."  
  
"Really?" Serena asked, "Then could you explain it to us?"  
  
"Well, it's simple. Take your moonbeam for example. When you use it, you pull the magic from within yourself, but the magic itself is still separate from you. It simply exists there, but is not a part of your body, right?" At this, all the girls nodded and Amy continued.  
  
"It's the same with all of our magic. We use it, we do not create magic because we already have it. This is why magic cannot be taught, only the use of it, because some people just don't have any and will never have any. However, this other power seems to come from your very essence. You learn how to channel your own life force from what I understand and requires intense training different from what we have learned. That is why this power did not surface at birth and lay dormant for so long."   
  
"Wait a second," Lita seemed to pounce on Skyler, "What about all of this?"Lita pointed to her tail and hair.   
  
"For the same reasons, your magic dominated, leaving only your planetary traits, or your mothers' genes, to show. Once your powers were released, however, your features changed to accommodate the Saiy-jin blood."   
  
"Is the process reversible?" Questioned Amy.  
  
"Theoretically, it should be. When you were born, the magic within you naturally hid your Saiy-jin blood, so all you need to do is concentrate on your magic to change back to how you looked before. However, using your other powers will trigger the Saiy-jin blood within you and..."  
  
"We'll be roaming about with tails again," Lita sighed.  
  
"Hmm," Rei seemed disturbed, "Your majesty, during that brief time that you regained consciousness, you spoke of some prophecy."  
  
Even as Rei said this, the Queen's features took on a stony look, deathly serious.  
  
"Yes, that was a very unexpected factor in all this," Queen Serenity nodded gravely, "There is a prophecy that states that five great warriors shall awaken from their slumber when the time has come for them to defend the galaxy against the chaos of evil. They are known as ... the planetary five."   
  
The room had gone silent once more, as the Queen's implications had caught   
them by surprise.  
  
"Mother...what is the meaning of this?" Serena's voice quivered.  
  
"My darling," Queen Serenity smiled, "I am certain that you five are the ones."  
  
Rei gasped, "You mean..."  
  
"Yes Rei," Queen Lilith of Mars spoke, "You are the ones who are destined to save our galaxy."  
  
"The planetary five," confirmed Amy's mother, Allexis, Queen of Mercury.   
  
Silence reigned for a few minutes.  
  
"Alright then! What are we doing sitting here?" Everyone stared shocked at the now enthusiastic princess of Venus.  
  
"Come on! You heard what Queen Serenity said. An evil force is on its way! We have to be prepared.!!" Soon the rest of the girls, swept up in Mina's passionate speech, joined in.  
  
"Yeah, that's right!" Lita stood suddenly, her fist clenched as her chair was knocked over, "We gotta train hard to defeat whatever comes our way!"  
  
"Mmhm," Rei agreed quietly from her seat.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Fire...ah!" Rei screamed as her opponent halted in mid punch, his fist inches away from her face. Skyler grinned as he pulled back his fist.  
  
"You have to learn to form attacks without the accompanying mantras."  
  
Rei scowled as she sulked, grudingly listening to what he had to say. She, and the other princesses had been training with the man, Skyler Hawks, for a few days now and had been getting nowhere, or at least that was how she felt. Frustration was building to a peak as Skyler droned on and on about how to properly execute her attack. Unbeknownst to her, an eerie red light was beginning to eminate from her clenched fists thay lay at her side. Then, suddenly, it happened.  
  
"Shut UP!!" As Rei screamed her fury, she released a ball of light from her hands as if by instinct. A large explosion was heard as the ball of light met its target. Rei stood, awestruck at what she had just done, the girls also wearing looks of disbelief, their mouths wide open in shock. Serena and Ami were knocked to the floor by the force of the explosion, their clothing visibly singed as the dust cleared.   
  
"Oops," Rei squeaked, "Umm...Skyler?...EEK!!" Everyone could now make out   
the figure of a man behind Rei as she whirled around to confront him.   
  
"Heh, scared you huh? You should always keep your guard up," Skyler grinned.  
  
"Hmph!"  
  
"Well, a job well done anyway. That is what would be called a simple energyblast, which is just a simple extension of your own energy. I want you all to master this first. Learn how to create small and big energy blasts. Play around with it."   
  
"Hey!" Rei seemed excited as a ball of pure red light seemed to float above her palm.  
  
"Whoa, hey! You're getting good at this Rei," Skyler commented as he turned to face the group. "Rei has already reached the next step. Manipulating your energy into a shape or form."  
  
"What's the difference?" Serena looked slightly confused.  
  
"Well, energy blasts are just amounts of energy that you release. By holding on the energy and manipulating it into a ball or some other shape, you are basically refining this skill. It's kindof like learning archery. You learn how to shoot first, then how to shoot accurately and effectively. Understand?"  
  
"Hmm, neat." Rei continued to play around with the ball of energy, when it   
suddenly disappeared. "Huh?"  
  
"You always have to keep some kind of concentration on it, to confirm its   
existence. Otherwise, it will dissapear and return to its origin," Skyler tutored.   
  
Rei sighed, as did the other girls. It would be a long day.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Over the next few weeks, all of the girls could do energy blasts, and under Skyler's careful tutorlage, they slowly learned how to increase or decrease the size and power of their energy blasts, refining them as they went along. Rei, however, seemed to catching on the fastest, as she was already able to increase or decrease the power or amount of energy without changing the size of the ball or beam of energy she created. Not only could she create balls and beams, she had also just begun exploring how to control disk-shaped energies. Skyler and Queen Serenity had discussed Rei's much faster   
pace in learning. They deducted that because Rei was very accomplished in the spiritual arts, she had an easier time in learning such attacks.   
  
On the other hand, while Rei excelled in style, Lita, the tough one of the group, truly lived up to expectations with a seemingly endless supply of power. While not nearly as refined as Rei, Lita's energy supply and power was amazing; she could easily be seen as Rei's equal. Ami was going in the exact opposite direction of Lita and Rei, her powers taking her towards different kinds of attacks, those of a different nature, yet still deadly. She was most succesful in creating strong shields or walls and had learned a special way of releasing her energy, so that it came out in a flash, blinding all in its path. Mina had   
taken a liking to manipulating her energy into weapons of some sort, using her energy like a tool. She was able to manipulate her energy into the most unique forms to suit whatever she needed: a sword, an arrow, and even a booomerang! This strange use ofenergy somewhat puzzled Skyler, but he accepted it as he accepted each of the other girls' powers and how they reflected upon each person. However, the strangest of all the girls had to be Serena. She had somehow not been able to really grasp the concept of using her energy and had begun picking up on techniques of the body. For instance, she had increased her speed greatly and had also stumbled upon a way of transporting herself from one place to another, though only across very short distances.   
  
In short, the girls had great progress. The only possible problems were that they were only refined in specific areas. Other techniques they could perform adequately and they were certainly not weak in those areas. However, it was feared that it would not be enough for the battle that was surely to come.   
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
It was a bright and sunny morning as the five princesses awoke and changed into their training outfits. Filing into the hall, refreshed and exited to start a new day of training, the girls began to talk about what they would work on and how their training was going.   
  
"Well, you know," Rei spoke up, "I heard that we're gonna learn something new today!"  
  
"Wow, really!" Lita piped in, "I can't wait!"   
  
"Yes," Ami agreed, "This is all very intriguing."  
  
"This should be fun! I love new things!" Mina squealed, delighted.  
  
"Well, everyone knows that you'll master it. Otherwise, you wouldn't be Skyler's favorite!" Serena teased.  
  
"Hey!" Rei seemed offended.  
  
"Aww, come on Rei, she was just kidding," Mina cut in, "Although you are his favorite..."  
  
"Mina!"   
  
"Sorry, sorry!"  
  
"Hey, what's going on here?" The girls all looked up to see Skyler and flushed, embarassed. "Should'nt you girls be warming up?" At that, the girls set off at a fast-paced run. Each morning they would start their day off with a refreshing jog, or run, after stretching. At first they had begun with a mile or so, adding more and more as they got into shape and their stamina improved. They were, after all, princesses and were not physically fit for the exercise. Eventually, they worked up to running 10 miles around a small lake before slowly coming to a stop to do work on individual muscles. Each did at least 200 sit-ups, pull-ups, push-ups, and other excercises. Depending on each of the girl's strengths and what needed to be improved, Skyler would assign a different amount   
to them. After this, they would jump into the lake and swim the whole length before swimming back, using the lake's cold temperature to cool them down before the true training began. At the beginning, the girls could barely stand after their 'warm up', but now, the girls seemed to become strangely refreshed as they prepared to learn new techniques and were only slightly fatigued if at all.   
  
"Alright, girls. You've come a long way in learning how to develop your powers and now, you will learn the final step that you must be able to accomplish."  
  
The girls waited eagerly to hear what Skyler was going to teach them.  
  
"You must be able to use your magic in your Saiy-jin forms."  
  
"You mean, it's possible?" Ami questioned him.  
  
"Yes, of course. Since your magic is always with you, even when your body   
changes to acknowledge your Saiy-jin blood, you should be able to use it because you are still the same person. Make sense?"  
  
"But how does this work?" Rei was slightly confused.  
  
"Well, when you use magic in this form, it will have the same effects, but instead of you only being able to call it forth, you will be able to handle it as you do your energy. It's as if you've let some magic flow into your energy blasts, if you want to think of it that way, or that instead of drawing forth your energy, you draw upon your magic, only now you know how to handle it as if it were energy, allowing it to be more useful to you."  
  
'Hmm, I ...I think I get it!' Serena thought. She concentrated hard, feeling the magic within, she mentally pulled it out, but held on to it, letting it gather on her palm. It seemed strange. She could feel the raw magic there, yet it had no name or identity. This could become one of many different spells she knew, but she had yet to decide, and so it stayed unknown. She figured she would have to name it herself.   
  
"Starlight Flash!" The room was engulfed in an strange light show as the ball of magic hit the floor.   
  
"Serena! Good job!" Serena found herself blushing as Skyler showered her with praise.   
  
"That was...odd," Serena stated. "Normally you call out the spell, and the magic takes form before coming forth, but this was the exace opposite..." Serena mumbled to herself. Hearing her words, Skyler nodded in confimation.  
  
"Yes, you must decide what form your magic will take on, but I think that   
eventually, you won't have to speak aloud to trigger your magic either when using it in this manner. Just your own will alone should do the trick." Serena nodded happily.  
  
Suddenly Ami was surrounded by an energy shield, yet it shined and glimmered strangely. A gasp. The ground around Ami within the shield had frozen over. She slowly opened her eyes to see if she had succeeded or not and smiled.   
  
"Hey, Ami!" Lita pointed her glowing finger towards Ami, "Take this!" Shooting a flurry of sharp leaves towards Ami's barrier, Lita watched in amazement as they were all frozen upon contact with it. "Hey, you're getting pretty good at that, Ami!"  
  
"Really?" Rei suddenly spoke, "Let's see how much heat you can take!"   
  
Concentrating hard, Rei sent a large ball of magic that burst out into flames towards Ami's barrier, causing both fireball and barrier to disappear as a result.   
  
"Okay, okay, that's enough now," Skyler admonished, "Mina?"  
  
"Huh? Oh, check this out!" Holding out her hand, a ball of magic formed on her hand, stretching into the shape of a crescent moon, the end of it sparkling with little hearts that shot off in a beam of light.   
  
"Cool!" Serena squealed. Mina winked back in response before letting the blade dissapear.   
  
Skyler smiled. The girls had become better and better at catching on to new techniques. Their rate of learning had increased greatly. However, there was still a lot to learn, a lot of things that he, unfortunately, couldn't teach them. They had to discover that on their own through further training that they would have to do on their own time.   
  
"Alright girls, that's it for today. Rest well," Skyler ended their training session when he noticed the girls' fatigue. While they were becoming increasingly skilled, they were still young girls, something that he always had to keep in mind. Being responsible for the fate of the galaxy is a big job, too big a job, he feared, for such young girls.   
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Shifting back into her 'planetary' features, as Skyler called them, Serena sighed as she eased herself into the hot bath she had prepared. Ahh, training was actually very satisfying, both physically and mentally. It seemed that all of them were getting stronger and stronger as each day passed ...but would they finish their training in time and would it be enough? Would they be enough to drive away the impending force of evil? She sighed as she slipped down lower into the bath, the steam carressing her face comfortingly. Yes, that was the big question.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   
  
So, how was it? My email is crystal_rose@senshi-mail.zzn.com   
Send my your comments.  
  
Crystal Rose ^_~  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	5. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: NO! I don't own Dragon Ball Z or Sailor Moon!!  
  
The Saiy-jin Scouts by Crystal Rose  
  
Chapter 4 ~  
  
The girls were once again training on the palace grounds the next day, having fun as always. Skyler stood to the side watching them practice their techniques. One would think the girls were merely playing, what with all the giggling and laughing, but no. These girls were preparing for the battle of a lifetime.  
  
"Hey, girls!" Serena called out to her friends, her tail swishing back and forth mischievously. Rei sighed.  
  
"What Serena."  
  
"Look at this." Serena concentrated for a few moments before her entire body was outlined with a glowing white light. Then, a wind seemed to form from nowhere as Serena began to float from the ground, inch by inch. The girls stood in awe and Skyler raised an eyebrow. How interesting...levitation.   
  
"Serena, how did you do that?" Mina jumped up and down.  
  
"I don't know. It's kind of like transporting. I just focused really hard on my energy, but instead of moving it in a split second, I just slowed down a bit. That way it looks like I'm flying."  
  
"What are you talking about?" Lita spoke, "You are flying!"  
  
Skyler took this opportunity to slip away from the girls as he made his way to the palace. This would have to be reported to the Queen.   
  
"Your majesty."  
  
Queen Serenity looked towards the door and called whomever was there in.  
  
"Your majesty, I have important news about the girls' progress."  
  
"Go on."  
  
"Well, it seems that while princess Serena has not been able to really excel in the arts of energy manipulation, she has grasped the physical aspects of training and has recently learned how to levitate."  
  
"Really?" At this, Skyler nodded.  
  
"Yes, but she also seems to have an easy time using magic in that form and can easily combine it with her energy for a special type of attack."  
  
"So, in other words, she has become exceedingly good at using magic and energy combined? Well then, it is clear that that is what her specialty has become. I'm sure it will be a valuable asset to the team."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Girls." Skyler faced the girls who stood in a straight line. "This is all that I can teach you. I'm at my limit. However, you must continue to train. Keep refining your techniques, polish up your weaker areas, and learn other techniques. I want you to learn from each other as you learn from yourselves, so that you may gain a wider range of knowledge. This will take dedication and hard work, something that you must do on your own part. Starting from tomorrow, you're on your own." A gasp was heard as everyone turned to see Serena's retreating form, tears glistening in the sunlight.   
  
Around 4:00, the girls all got together in princess Serena's room to comfort the poor girl. She had gone straight to her room after the day's training session and cried non-stop. Lying on her bed, the girls found her still shaking from her recent tears.  
  
"Serena," Mina gently put a hand on Serena's shoulder.  
  
"What's wrong Serena?" Lita knelt down before Serena, looking up into her tear-stained face.  
  
"I...I can't do it." Serena's voice trembled.  
  
"Do what?" Lita spoke with a motherly tone.  
  
"I can't...Skyler said..."  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Skyler says we have to train really hard to perfect our techniques and work on those that aren't as good...but I'm so behind on most of the basic stuff like energy manipulation ...and I still have to try and learn all sorts of new attacks like he said and..."  
  
"Shh, it's okay," Mina soothed as she took Serena into her arms, rocking her like a baby.  
  
"Yeah, Serena," Rei spoke up, "You've improved a lot. Before you couldn't even do energy blasts at all! But now that you can, you'll see that working to improve on it is much easier than starting from scratch. I know you'll catch up in no time."  
  
"Yes, it's true," Ami verified, "It will get easier and easier with more practice, and although you may not reach the same level of skill as us for certain techniques, I'm sure you will still be exceedingly good at them. Don't forget, you have your own specialties too."  
  
"Yeah, that's right," Lita smiled, "Who else can throw an energy blast with magic so well!"   
  
"See, Serena, you have nothing to worry about," Rei patted her on the head.  
  
"Thank you...all of you." Serena smiled as they all gave her one big group hug.   
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   
  
The sky was a dark blue tinged with black when a figure stood alone, watching from the deck of a large spacecraft. The voluptuous curves of the figure revealed its femininity as it swept its gaze across the Royal palace of the Moon. An eerie smile graced its lips.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   
  
It was near midnight when the alarms sounded, pulling the girls from their beds as they sleepily gazed into the hallway. Guards were running about the place, advisors shouting out orders as chaos ensued. The girls rubbed the sleep from their eyes and ran to meet each other, dodging people left and right.  
  
"WHAT'S GOING ON?!" Serena had to shout above all the noise.  
  
"I DON'T KNOW!" Rei screamed back. Serena quickly motioned them into her   
room just as a large explosion shook the palace, glass shattering in all directions.  
  
"You guys, whatever this is, I don't like it," Mina spoke.  
  
"You don't think...," Lita trailed off uncertainly. The girls all stared at each other in horror.  
  
"Come on, let's go see Queen Serenity!" Ami shouted.  
  
Before the girls could reach the door, another explosion sounded, the hallway ceiling cracking as chunks of it collapsed down in front of the door. They were trapped. A chuckle. The girls turned around to see...  
  
"Now, now girls, don't tell me you've forgotten me?" Galateia floated above, mocking them.  
  
"No way, you witch!!" Rei screamed vehemently as she transformed, her tail   
twitching back and forth in anger.  
  
"Witch, huh? Well, take this!" She hurled a large ball of energy at them.  
  
"YAA!" Rei, with the quickest of reflexes, threw an energy ball of her own to block it.   
  
"You brat!" Galateia seethed in anger, "I'm going to personally take care of you!"  
  
"Oh yeah? Just try!!" Lita sent a beam of energy flying towards her, which she calmly swatted away. By then all of the girls were in their Saiy-jin forms.  
  
"Hmph! Is that all you got?" She shot out a much larger beam, sending Lita flying into the wall. Mina snuck up from behind Galateia with her crescent shaped blade, but before she could even take another step, she was elbowed harshly in the stomach. Gasping for air, she slid to the ground, her energy flickering out of existence.  
  
Ami, who had been watching for a while, had had enough.   
  
"Come on, girls. We have got to get out of here!"   
  
"What? We can't!" Serena protested. Rei stood by, her fists clenched.  
  
"I hate to admit it, but we could never pull it off right now...she's become too powerful!"  
  
"Come on you guys!" Lita struggled to stand, her nightgown ripped and slightly scorched as Mina got on her hands and knees, a thin river of blood flowing down her chin.   
  
"Hurry!" Ami shouted as Serena and Rei rushed to aid Lita and Mina.   
Immediately, Ami put up a shield around all of them as they made their hasty exit. They soon tired, however, as the two girls bearing extra weight struggled, the shield weakening as well.   
  
"Wait, there has got to be a quicker way!" Serena shouted. Then, an idea struck her. She began to glow bright as she put up her own shield, lining the inside of Ami's. Suddenly, the group began to float.   
  
"Alright, Serena!" Rei shouted, "Quick thinking!"  
  
"Let's go!"   
  
They sped through the halls, debris lay everywhere. People lay scattered about, some already dead. Bursting through the throne room doors, the girls made their entrance. Queen Serenity and the rest of the galaxy's rulers were engaged in a furious debate. Their trainer, Skyler, stood to one side.  
  
"Girls!" Queen Serenity took quick notice of them. "What happened!"  
  
"Galateia's back!" Serena cried breathlessly.  
  
"Yes, I thought she might be."   
  
"Queen Serenity, what's going on?" Ami asked.  
  
"They have finally come and attacked," Queen Serenity spoke gravely.  
  
"You mean..." Queen Serenity nodded as another large explosion shook the   
palace.  
  
"Mother, what shall we do? They are too powerful! Even Galateia's power has increased ten fold it seems!!"  
  
"We are debating about that very issue right now."  
  
"Serenity," Queen Aphrodite, "Are you sure this plan of yours is our only course of action?" Both Serena and Rei looked on in confusion as Ami cast a healing spell upon her injured friends who lay on the ground in a heap.   
  
"I fear so."   
  
"Why can't we just give it all we've got!" The King of Venus spoke up.  
  
"You don't understand," the Queen of Mercury answered him, "It would be   
useless."  
  
"Why?! WHY?!!"  
  
"Because all we have besides our own magic is military power!! That means   
absolutely nothing to our enemy. They could easily wipe out all of your forces in the blink of an eye! Are you willing to sacrifice so many lives for nothing?!"  
  
"And as you can see, using the girls to fight our war is not an option. The girls were easily defeated by one of Lord Cosmos minions and unfortunately would not stand a chance for victory." At this the girls looked down, ashamed.  
  
"Your majesty," Skyler jumped in, "I feel your plan has merit. However, I think the girls should spend their time training to become stronger."  
  
"I understand," Queen Serenity spoke.  
  
"What's this all about, your majesty?" Ami asked.  
  
"Girls, we have decided that the only way we might have even the smallest hope of winning, is for you to travel to another galaxy to find the strongest warriors to aid us in war and, as Mr. Hawks has said, further your own training."   
  
The girls were silent, each one pondering this over. Rei nodded in understanding of the Queen's reasoning.   
  
"Alright, I'm in!" Rei declared.  
  
"Don't forget me!" Lita piped up, throwing her fist into her palm.  
  
"I agree with your strategy, your majesty," Amy smiled.   
  
"Lets go!" Mina giggled.  
  
"Serena?" Queen Serenity questioned. She nodded.  
  
"We'll be back, mother!"   
  
"I know you will," The Queen smiled softly. "Alright, then. We should start searching for the planet that you will journey to. Allexis?"  
  
"Right." A screen appeared as the Queen of Mercury scanned the nearest galaxy for life. In no time, the room was filled with a loud beeping. "Ah! Serenity! There is a small planet just outside of our galaxy that is projecting an incredible amount of life force. There must be billions living upon the surface."  
  
"How convenient," Queen Serenity stated. "We are very lucky indeed. How long do you estimate it will take to get there?"  
  
"A week at most."  
  
"Wait a moment," Mina cut in, "aren't we going to be transported there?"  
  
"In normal circumstances, yes. That would be the fastest route. However, in a war zone such as what this galaxy has become, it would be too dangerous. The enemy could disrupt the transporting signal and send you to who knows where! Death could be imminent in such a situation, so you will be going by spacecraft."  
  
"But, won't that be dangerous, your majesty?" Rei swept in. "Taking our time like this. Who knows what we might come home to! A lifeless world at best!!"  
  
"Rei, have you that little faith in us?" Queen Serenity lightly joked. "Honestly, Rei. I don't like it as much as you do, but unfortunately such a risk must be taken to assure your safe departure."  
  
"Hmm," Lita mumble to herself.   
  
"Serenity, I have already pinpointed the location." Queen Serenity nodded in understanding.  
  
"Come with me girls." Queen Serenity headed off to the transportation deck, stopping just before a midsize spacecraft.  
  
Queen Serenity closed her eyes for a brief moment, a bright light flashing. The girls were now wearing some sort of special outfits. They consisted of long pants and a short sleeve shirt that stopped at their belly buttons. They also had elbow length gloves, headbands, and boots that were a shade darker than the rest of their outfit. Each girl was dressed in their planetary color, the metallic fabric giving off a wicked glare.   
  
"Wow, cool!" Mina squealed.  
  
"These are clothes that you can wear about normally. They are no ordinary   
clothes and are of magic origin. They can also change to fit your needs or preferences. They will not tear or damage by normal means and will clean itself. When you transform into your Saiy-jin selves, the clothes should accommodate your tail."  
  
Suddenly a set of armor appeared upon each of them.  
  
"These are armor that will help protect you in battle. They are modeled and designed after those that your fathers wore. Light and flexible, they should allow you to move about freely. Also, take these."   
  
Queen Serenity handed out a pair of bracelets and a necklace to each girl, a pendant of their planetary symbol on each.   
  
"The bracelets act as magic amplifiers and the necklaces will allow you all to stay in touch. However, I'm sure you will discover there are many other uses for them as well. I wish you all good luck."  
  
The armors and jewelry disappeared as Queen Serenity placed them in their space pockets. The girls quickly filed into the spacecraft, waving to their parents from within.  
  
"Goodbye, mother!" Serena yelled as they began to take off.  
  
"Father! I'll be back!!" Mina cried out just as the ship disappeared into the black depths of space.  
  
Down below, five queens and a king looked up to the skies above.  
  
'Good luck, princesses. May your hearts guide you to your destinies.'   
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   
  
Inside the ship, Serena stared off into space, literally. There were so many things to take into account, so many factors. What if the enemy spotted them? What if they went off course? What if they ran out of gas?! The planet they were on their way to was in question as well. What if the reading was wrong? What if there was no life on that planet, or the people there turned out to be cruel heartless people! What if? What if? WHAT IF?!  
  
"AHH!!"   
  
"Serena! What's wrong?!" Hearing the commotion, the girls had all run over to the screaming girl who looked more than a bit embarrassed by now.  
  
"Uh...heh heh...nothing." Serena smiled sheepishly.  
  
"Oh," Rei sighed, "It's okay, Serena. You're not the only one who's stressed."  
  
Serena nodded, thankful for her friends' understanding.   
  
"You guys," Ami suddenly spoke up. "I think we should really get some rest. It's been a long night." Mina, the most energetic of them all, nodded silently, submitting to sleep as she listlessly made her way to bed. Following suit, Lita sighed as she plunked down on the bunk facing Mina. Ami gave Serena and Rei a tired smile.  
  
"You two go ahead and take the top bunks. I'll sleep on the spare cot."  
  
"Thanks, Ami," Serena smiled in appreciation before turning to look at Rei, who had settled with standing by the window, one hand touching the glass as she stared out into the never-ending abyss of darkness.  
  
"Rei?" Starting out of her trance, Rei quickly turned and made her way to the bunks, pausing slightly at the ladder, sighing once more.  
  
"Get some sleep Serena. We'll talk things out together in the morning. Things'll look better then." A gentle smile touched Serena's lips as Rei proceeded to climb into her bunk.  
  
"Goodnight, Rei."   
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   
  
Comments? Flames? Send them to crystal_rose@senshi-mail.zzn.com   
  



	6. Chapter 5

Phew! This ones a long one. Took me a while there. Sorry for the wait. Anyway, here's the long awaited (not really) chapter 5.  
  
Disclaimer: NO! I don't own Dragon Ball Z or Sailor Moon. So there! :p  
  
  
The Saiy-jin Scouts by Crystal Rose  
  
Chapter 5 ~  
  
It was still dark when one of the girls began to stir. Sitting up in bed, her blue hair mussed, Ami turned to through the window beside her into the depressing void of darkness called space. Viewing the clock on the spaceship, she realized with a start that she had nearly slept through the entire day! But how?   
  
Quickly getting up to make herself some breakfast, Ami began to think how this could be so. Well, for one thing, they were in space. The lack of light could have induced a longer period of sleep since their internal clocks would be greatly affected by this and become completely inaccurate. Also, they had gone to sleep tired and worn from battle, so perhaps they were simply sleeping it off. Satisfied, Ami sat down at the small table provided and began to eat the sandwich she had made during the period of time she had been thinking. A yawn could be heard as Mina rolled out of her bunk and onto the cold, unforgiving floor, a dull thud announcing her awakening.   
  
"Ow! My head," Mina rubbed the back of her head in agitation.   
  
"Nice to see you up," spoke a gentle voice. Mina looked up to see Ami grinning down crookedly at her. Grumbling, she pulled herself to her feet and made her way to the table Ami occupied, taking the seat across from her.   
  
"Yeah, yeah. Very funny, Ami," She pouted and rested her chin on the table. Ami giggled slightly.  
  
"I'm sorry Mina, I didn't mean to offend you." Mina sighed before a bright smile was plastered on her face.  
  
"Hey, where did you get that?" Mina pointed towards the half-eaten sandwich on the table.  
  
"There's a fridge full of food over there," Ami motioned behind her to a large, square appliance. Mina hurriedly left in search of what it had to offer. In the meantime, Lita had awoken and stood beside the table, stretching out her limbs, the soft humming of the ship as it cruised through space the only sound audible.  
  
"Ugh, that was a good sleep," She yawned. Ami nodded.  
  
"Hey, what time is it?" Mina returned with an opened bag of potato chips in one arm as she walked over to them.  
  
"Ten forty p.m. according to the space ship," replied Ami.  
  
"Wow really? I thought I must have slept more than 12 hours!" Lita exclaimed.  
  
"You did." Ami confirmed as both Mina and Lita looked slightly confused.  
  
"But, you just said it was ten forty," Mina paused, a potato chip at her lips.  
  
"Yes, but it's Tuesday." At this, both girls stared at Ami stupidly.  
  
"WHAT?!" They both shrieked in disbelief, penetrating the heavy silence. Ami quickly ran to cover both their mouths.  
  
"Shhh! You don't want to wake the others, do you?" Ami let go when she felt the girls had gained better control of themselves.   
  
"We slept over a day?!" Lita squeaked in a whisper.   
  
"I've heard of sleeping it off, but this is ridiculous!" Mina added.   
  
"No, it's quite normal." Ami then proceeded to tell the girls the reasons she had come up with for this prolonged sleep. This seemed to placate them somewhat as they slowly accepted her explanations.   
  
"Well," Lita sighed warily when she was done, "I guess this means we still have about a day and a half left until we reach that planet." The silence of the room was deafening until some rustling caught the girls' attention. A sleepy-looking Serena stared down at them blankly before yawning and mumbling a quick 'good morning.'  
  
"Morning."   
  
"More like good afternoon," Rei mumbled, stretching her back from behind   
Serena.   
  
"Huh, really? Wow, I must have been tired." Serena plopped down on a chair. "What's for breakfast?"   
  
"Whatever you like," Mina replied, still munching on her chips. Everyone seemed to be in a subdued mood, almost depressed.  
  
"Hey, shouldn't we be practicing our techniques like Skyler said?" Serena said hopefully, trying to cheer everyone up.  
  
"Well, I guess so," Mina tilted her head in thought, "Where could we practice though?" Upon, hearing the conversation, Rei soon joined in.  
  
"You know, we could use this opportunity to hone in on our skills. Namely our accuracy. In such a small space, we'll only be able to use our techniques on a much smaller scale. This could be very useful."  
  
"Yes," Ami agreed, "Learning how to control our techniques and use them for other reasons will be very helpful."   
  
"What other reasons to use them are there, though?" Lita asked.  
  
"Well, magic isn't always offensive and harmful like how we've been taught to use it. You could learn to use your power for different purposes, you know."   
  
"Like this?" Everyone watched as Mina held up her finger, hearts beginning to take form, surrounding it as if in an orbit. The miniature version of her heart beam swirled around her finger playfully, until she pointed it upwards, forcing the hearts to flow in a spiral of magic. She giggled as she continued the light show, making all but one of the hearts disappear. This she maneuvered right in front of Lita's face, where it burst in a flash of light, particles flying everywhere. Lita slumped forward on the table, snoring away.  
  
"Oops, I didn't think it would knock her out cold," Mina didn't seem all that surprised at all. Rei raised an eyebrow and Mina looked down sheepishly, "Ok, ok, so maybe I did."  
  
"Ooh, neat Mina!" Serena squealed, "How did you do that? You always come up with the coolest attacks."   
  
"That wasn't an attack, Serena," Rei interrupted.  
  
"That's right, but it was simply amazing the way you manipulated your sleep spell like that," Ami complemented a blushing Mina. Lita groaned as she suddenly came to.  
  
"What happened?"  
  
"I put a light sleep spell on you...sorry."  
  
"Oh, that's alright...I guess."  
  
"Serena, you should be able to do that too," Ami spoke up.  
  
"Really? Hearts and all?"  
  
"Well, yes and no. Because of the similarity of the forces you two draw power from, you should be able to cast that sleep spell. However, all attacks are different, and I'm sure yours will vary a bit from Mina's."   
  
"Oh," Serena's shoulders slumped with disappointment, "Well..."  
  
BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP...  
  
A loud noise from the control room interrupted anything more she had to say as they all ran to find out the cause of distress.   
  
"Oh, is that all," Ami sighed with relief. A timer had been set to alarm them when they began entering the other galaxy.   
  
"Well, we'd best get back to work," Rei walked back.   
  
The rest of the day was spent working on their techniques and perfecting them to the best of their ability. When the day was over and they were all weary from exhaustion, they wearily made their way into the 'kitchen' and had a hasty meal before retiring for the night.   
  
The next day, the girls awoke to an alarm set for them by Ami. Some of the girls, like Rei and Ami, were used to waking early and climbed out of bed without protest. While Lita was a bit slower to follow, Mina and Serena completely ignored said alarm and continued to dream peacefully.   
  
"When are those two going to get up?" Rei demanded, impatient. She had already come out of the shower and was almost finished with her breakfast, yet the two blondes had slept on, oblivious. She quickly got to her feet and made a beeline for the two, attempting to wake them by alternately shaking them. Neither budged.   
  
"Here, let me try!"   
  
Lita walked up with a devilish look in her eye that just screamed revenge. Closing her eyes, her brow furrowed in concentration, Lita began glowing green. She raised one palm upwards and a small flurry of leaves burst out to rotate in a ring of never-ending green. Pushing her palm towards Mina, the ring of leaves seemed to uncoil and begin to journey towards the unsuspecting blond, recoiling about her body and spiraling around her from head to toe. Then, ever so carefully, Lita began to raise her hand, lifting the blond from her bed, the covers slipping off to reveal a pair of metallic orange pajamas, the magical outfit having changed during the night at her will. A slight snickering could be heard as Lita opened her eyes to survey her handiwork.   
  
"And now, to wake her once and for all," Lita smiled evilly as the slight breeze created by the leaves increased to a full-blown gust of wind. Mina finally began to stir.  
  
"Ugh...five more minutes mom...huh? Hey!" Mina suddenly came to a halt and   
was dropped unceremoniously back on her bed in confusion, though not for long.  
  
"LITAAAA!!"   
  
"Hey, nice job," Rei complimented Lita. "Maybe I should try something like that on Serena!"  
  
"Uh, Rei," Ami interrupted the other girl's glee, "I don't think that would be a good idea."  
  
"Huh? Why not?" Came the startled reply.  
  
"Well, all your attacks are quite offensive and can be deadly. I'm afraid you would accidentally burn Serena. Just a few inches off and she could be burned to a crisp."   
  
Rei stuck her hand behind her head as she laughed sheepishly, "I guess your right. She wouldn't be able to take the heat! Well, I'd better be off to practice then." She rushed off quickly, embarrassed by her foolishness.   
  
"That would be advisable," Ami nodded, "Meanwhile, I'll go wake Serena.  
  
Holding both hands above the girl's body, Ami emitted some sort of mist or fog onto Serena, who suddenly became very still before...  
  
"AHHH!!!" Serena bolted up in bed, shivering terribly.  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry Serena," Ami apologized, "We had to wake you up somehow."  
  
Having had the chance to calm down, as well as warm up, Serena smiled  
  
"It's alright, Amy. I know how hard it can be to drag me from bed. I didn't mean to be troublesome. Hope I wasn't a bother."  
  
"No, of course not, Serena," Ami cheerfully reassured her. "It wasn't a problem at all, though you really should go take a shower to warm up."  
  
Looking around Serena asked, "Where are the rest of the girls?"  
  
"Oh, well Rei, Lita, and Mina are all training, or at least trying to."  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"Well, you know we all decided that today would be spent learning new   
techniques from each other, but it isn't easy from the looks of it." Serena nodded in agreement before heading towards the shower room.  
  
When Serena was done and dressed, she found the rest of the girls paired up to teach each other techniques that they found interesting or thought would be useful. The moment the girls noticed Serena standing there, they immediately rushed up to surround her.  
  
"Serena! Serena! You've got to teach me to levitate!!" Mina squealed.  
  
"Oh, come on, Serena. You should teach me first! Then, I can help you teach the others once I've mastered it," Rei boasted.   
  
"Serena! I'm your best friend, right?!" Lita jumped in.   
  
Ami walked into the middle of the fray and not so gently lifted Lita and Mina off the floor by the backs of their shirts, setting them down a little ways from Serena. A while ago, within the first week of their training, the girls had discovered they had an incredible inborn physical strength that just kept growing as they trained. They knew this had something to do with the Saiy-jin blood that flowed within them, since this super-human strength had appeared along with their new powers. It was quite convenient, as Ami had demonstrated.   
  
"Amy!" Lita protested, "What was that for?!"  
  
"Yeah! What's the deal?" Mina whined.  
  
"Oh come on girls behave," Ami lectured. "Serena can teach all of us at once, right?" At this Ami looked to Serena, who nodded, happily agreeing.   
  
"All right then!" Serena stood in the middle of the semi-circle the girls had formed. "Just concentrate on your energy, your essence, and everything within that makes you. Picture your body, feel it and its energy."   
  
Each of the girls slowly began glowing in the color of their planets, their energy's signature. An artificial wind began to blow as they each burst into bright flames of pure energy.   
  
"Now move it, your body. You should be able to feel that you are the moving force while at the same time being the object moved...I think."   
  
Rei was the first to understand what Serena had been trying to say and slowly began to lift off the ground. Opening her eyes in surprise, she lost hold and fell back to the floor. Each of the girls had had the same amount of progress, but slowly they began to improve.   
  
"Oof! Ouch," Rei rubbed her sore bottom. It had been about the twentieth time already and she was frustrated. "Ugh!"  
  
"Hey, Rei!" Serena came over to check on her, "How's it going?"  
  
"Terrible. I can only keep it up for so long." Rei pounded her fists into the floor before looking up at the touch of a hand on her shoulder.  
  
"Hey, it isn't easy," Serena soothed. "It just takes some practice and incentive. You remember that time you covered the floor below me with fire that one time I was practicing?" Rei laughed at the memory.  
  
"Yeah, you flew up so fast you hit the ceiling! Literally!"   
  
"See? After I had experienced using my energy that way, it was so much easier to do. I know you'll be able to master it in no time!" Rei smiled in gratitude. Serena returned the guesture before leaving to see how the others were doing. She understood that for someone who excelled at such things such slow progress was painfully frustrating.   
  
"Hey Serena!"   
  
At hearing her name being called, Serena whipped around to find absolutely no one. After looking around in confusion for a few seconds, a small shriek of dismay came from above her and a body came crashing down upon hers in a flash of orange.  
  
"Oof! Mina," Serena moaned. A slight giggle could be heard as Mina clumsily got off of Serena, a sheepish look on her face.  
  
"Oops. Sorry, Serena. I didn't mean to fall on you. Honest! I..."  
  
"It's alright," Serena smiled, "At least you're able to stay in the air for more than a few seconds now. I'll give you that much."   
  
"Oh really?" The others all gasped as a floating Rei came over to join them, a smug look on her face.  
  
"How?..." Lita stared dumbly and Mina was speechless. Serena looked mildly   
surprised.  
  
"Wow, Good job Rei! That was fast!" Rei twirled a lock of her dark black hair, the red in it flashing bright as it was periodically shined in the light. She seemed to be acting slightly guilty of something as she began to chew on her lip.  
  
"Well...I didn't really do it in the way Serena did..." Rei looked down with some shame, feeling as if she'd somehow cheated.  
  
"What do you mean?" Ami suddenly seemed very interested.  
  
"Well, I used some of my magic and took advantage of the natural heat waves from my fire magic to keep me off the ground. Kind of like those hot air balloons the Gaeans used to ride in, the ones we learned about from our tutors."  
  
"That makes perfect sense," Ami confirmed, "I suppose for now, that will have to do. We all must learn to fly in some way. However, Rei, you should still learn to use your energy to fly as well. It is almost certain that there will be subtle differences between the two techniques, but these differences may be vital when in need of specific usage."  
  
Rei nodded, not quite comprehending Ami's explanation. Ami merely sighed   
when she saw the blank looks adorning the girls' faces.  
  
"It's good to have a variety in techniques," she supplied. To this, everyone smiled widely in understanding.   
  
After Ami's speech, the girls got back to work, but it seemed that flying was more physical than previously thought. They seemed to progress slowly, or at least it seemed that way to them, as they would gain a few more seconds in flight or fly higher than they had previously been able to. This long and torturous procedure lasted for many hours until the girls were fed up and went off to lunch.   
  
"Whew, what a work out!" Mina plopped down on a chair to eat her sandwich.   
  
"Yes, but we've all accomplished a lot, you know," Ami proceeded to inform   
them how much longer they could all stay in flight now, that it had not been useless as they had thought. One by one the girls each sat with their lunches, listening to what she had to say.   
  
"But, how will we be able to get ready in time?" Rei spoke for the first time since they had decided take a lunch break. "Queen Serenity said that we must all accomplish flight for some strange reason," Rei sulked from across Mina.   
  
"Think it has something to do with the prophecy?" Mina directed her question towards Ami, who shook her head.  
  
"I've no idea," she spoke truthfully, "Queen Serenity never mentioned anything else about it and no written version of it exists, to my knowledge."  
  
"Hey, you know what?" Serena suddenly perked up. The girls all waited to hear what the princess had to say. "I think we should try and treat flying like second nature, just like our tails. I mean instead of setting time for practicing how to use our tails, we were stuck with them for a whole day and were forced to learn how to control them out of necessity, right? The same should go for flying!"  
  
"Hmm," Lita nodded in consent, "I agree!"   
  
"But, how can we make it a necessity?" Mina was smart enough to question.   
  
"I think I can take care of that," Ami quickly headed for the control panel. Upon, coming back a digital voice could be heard.  
  
"I set the computer to start the effects in half a minute. It'll cause us to..." Suddenly Mina shrieked as she seemed to sink into the floor. Hopping about frantically, she began jumping as high as she could until...  
  
DONG!!   
  
...She hit the ceiling. Quite a feat considering the ceiling was a good 15 feet up.  
  
"...hallucinate," Ami finished as she calmly took to flight, floating a few inches above the floor while shielded in an ice-cold barrier.   
  
"Neat trick Ami!" Serena called over from her position high above, floating carelessly.   
  
"It's different for everyone," Ami explained, "I based the hallucinations on your worst fears."  
  
"What?" Serena looked skeptical, "Impossible!"  
  
"Try it," Ami's eyes seemed to sparkle with mirth as Serena gently began her descent. When she touched the floor, nothing seemed to happen. She opened her eyes in slight shock.  
  
"Hey, nothing happened! Ami?" Serena turned towards her for an explanation.  
  
"Just wait."  
  
"What do you mean just waAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!" Her question was cut off   
as she began screaming hysterically. "Eww!! No! Get away from me! AHH!" She   
continued waving her arms about madly as she made a mad dash for the ceiling, colliding painfully with the metal surface, though her pain was much greater than Mina's since it was by flight. She moaned as she clutched the ceiling, much the same way Mina was now, unconsciously emitting an orange light as she used her energy to keep her afloat instead of using all her strength to cling to the ceiling like she thought she was.  
  
"Huh, I'll just..." Rei trailed off as she suddenly realized she couldn't use her magic. "Uh-oh," She whispered as her eyes began to widen in fear. Breathing heavily Rei looked about her, a slightly crazed look in her eye. Lita, who had already come to grips with the situation, floated a bit unsteadily beside Rei, concerned for her friend's welfare.  
  
"Ami?" Lita stared at Rei, her face a mask of worry, "Is she going to be okay? I mean I know you said fears, but what kind?"  
  
Ami, who had been equally surprised by her friend's reaction, seemed puzzled.  
  
"I have no idea. I guess there is no limit to the degree of fear the machine can cause. I just typed in all of your personality traits and let the machine do the work. I..."  
  
"NOO!!" Rei's scream tore through the air as she burst out in red flames, soaring at an incredible speed towards the ceiling, rushing towards the metal surface to bang on it hysterically, trying to escape the nightmare that had taken over her mind.  
  
"Rei!" Serena, who had calmed down considerably, rushed over in an attempt to comfort her friend. "I'm here, Rei!" Focusing, she glowed brightly and cast her magic about Rei, trying to neutralize the hallucinations. It failed.   
  
"Here let me try!" Lita flew up, concern for her friend giving her the sudden strength to fly faster than she could before. Floating in mid air, She glowed an earthly green and enveloped Rei in its brilliance, a small pattern of leaves circling around her. A gentle, comforting breeze, then...  
  
"Huh?" Rei seemed to awaken from her nightmare, groggy and confused.   
"What's going on, you guys?" Then she remembered. She shuddered at the thought.  
  
"Hey, how'd you do that?" Serena asked.  
  
"Well, I covered up the other hallucination with one of my own, that's all," Lita explained. Ami nodded, confirming.  
  
"Yes, yes I see. The weakest magic is by nature stronger than any technology existing. When experiencing your hallucination, Rei was able to counter it with ease, the magic being of such a weak level." The girls nodded dumbly.  
  
"EEK!" A squeal came from above, "Get me down! I'm stuck!!" Looking up,   
everyone saw Mina desperately clawing at the ceiling, afraid to fall.  
  
"Mina, you can let go now," Lita calmly informed her friend.  
  
"What?! And fall to my death?!!" Mina continued to rant as Ami flew up to Mina and froze her hands, temporarily disabling the use of her hands. Mina became speechless within seconds when she realized her hands were immobile and she had still not plunged to an untimely death. Her mouth worked open and closed like a fish out of water.  
  
"Wha..." Mina finally squeaked out.   
  
"It's alright Mina," Serena flew up to lay a hand on her shoulder. "You're flying!"  
  
"I...I am?" Mina looked and righted herself, "I...I am!" A wide grin spread   
across her face, "WHEE!" Flying around in loops, Mina nearly knocked the other girls out of the air in her excitement.   
  
"Calm down," Rei grouched, still recovering from her little predicament a while ago.   
  
"Oh, I'm sorry, Rei," Mina swooped down low. "Are you ok? That looked pretty rough from up there."  
  
"Yeah," Lita came up on the other side of Rei, hovering just above the ground, "What happened?" Rei swatted away the question.  
  
"Nothing, nothing. No big deal, ok?" Spinning on her heel, she stomped off   
towards the kitchen.   
  
"Rei..." Serena moved to follow her, but stopped at the touch of a hand on her shoulder. Ami shook her head.  
  
"Let her go Serena. She'll tell us in her own time. She just needs to sort things out for herself, get things together." Serena smiled sadly.  
  
"I suppose so Ami," Serena sighed before putting on a happy face. "Well! At least the day was not wasted! We have all successfully learned to fly!" The others all nodded in consent. It had been a good day overall.   
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
It was still early when the ship's alarms started to sound, red lights flashing brightly, adding to the confusion of the girls as they tumbled out of bed.   
  
"What's going on?!" Lita shouted over the commotion to Ami. The rest of the girls merely stared at the chaos surrounding them.  
  
"I don't know! I think..."  
  
THWACK!!   
  
The ship tilted to one side from the impact. The girls all fell to the floor, sliding this way and that as they tried to regain balance. The thundering of warning alarms assaulted their ears.   
  
Warning...meteor shower...systems malfunctioning...  
  
"Oh, no!" Ami raced towards the control station, the rest of the girls just behind her. Frantically pushing buttons, Ami became increasingly panicked as each of the system functions came up negative on the systems check.  
  
Engine B damaged...  
Left wing out of commission...  
  
BOOM!  
  
Just then an explosion rocked the ship, the turbulence almost unbearable as they were tossed about like rag dolls inside the spacecraft.  
  
Engine A out of commission...  
  
"Oh no!" Ami cried out in dismay, the other girls crowding around her as best they could to hear her. "We've lost an engine! The other one is damaged and that's all we've got left! We have to..."  
  
CRACK!   
  
A tiny fragment of a meteor smashed into the window beside them, almost   
breaking through.   
  
"What, Ami! WHAT!" Lita yelled.  
  
"We have to prepare for a crash landing!" Ami shouted back.  
  
"But where?!" Rei screamed.  
  
"I don't ..."  
  
FHHOOM!!  
  
The ship began shaking even more violently, vibrating madly as they had   
encountered some unknown force of resistance. The temperature soared to new heights and they could hear bits and pieces of the ship's metal frame being torn off, savagely stripped from the craft.   
  
Planetary atmosphere encountered...  
  
At this, Ami looked up in horror. At this rate, they would be burned alive before they had a chance to land. Quickly collecting her wits, she rushed back to the control panel.  
  
Plot planetary coordinates_  
  
Please wait...  
  
Coordinates found... 029835pfxn   
  
Ami's eyes widened. They had a chance after all.  
  
"Girls! The gravitational pull of the planet is sucking us in! We have to ride it out and hope to crash somewhere safely!"  
  
"What do you mean crash safely?! Is there such a thing?!!" Mina shouted.  
  
"I mean we must survive the crash! If our mission is to be successful, we must!"  
  
"And we will!" Rei suddenly jumped in. "Ami, what are we up against!"  
  
"The atmosphere! The atmosphere will tear the ship apart, and I'm afraid us as well!!"  
  
"You mean the heat?!"   
  
"Yes! We might as well be burned alive if something isn't done about it!!"  
  
"Well what kind of plan is that!!" Mina wailed.  
  
"I think I can protect us with magic!"   
  
"Good idea, but can you hold the shield?!"  
  
"I...I don't know!"   
  
"That's it!" Serena spoke for the first time that night, "Let's merge our shields! That way Ami can work on keeping the temperature down!"  
  
"Alright I'll..."   
  
BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP   
  
External breach...  
Artificial atmosphere destabilized...  
Oxygen levels decreasing...  
  
Gasping, Ami turned to the Lita, "Hurry! Use your magic to create oxygen,   
otherwise we'll suffocate!!" Nodding, Lita turned to the others. They were all drenched with sweat by now, their hair damp and limp. A look outside would have seen desert all around, an unwelcoming sight.  
  
"HURRY!"   
  
As the ship began to plunge towards the ground, the girls were encased in a glowing bubble of blue, green, orange, white, and red. Concentrating furiously on the task at hand, the girls almost looked serene in the midst of so much destruction. They landed in a spectacular explosion of dirt, rocks and debris flying out in all directions. Everything went black.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   
  
How was it? Okay? Not okay? Well, at any rate, I'm just getting started! The story has yet to begin! Next chapter, the DBZ cast makes their first appearance! Excited? You bet I am!! *giggles*   
  
PLEASE EMAIL! I NEED MORAL SUPPORT!! Please?  
  
Crystal Rose ^_~  



	7. Chapter 6

Finally! It's done!! Sorry for the wait everyone! Your patience is very appreciated. I hope it's worth it. Warning. There is some very mild bad language. Also, where the story takes place in the DBZ timeline, the androids have arrived and are prepared to destroy earth! Mwa ha ha ha haaa!! ... ^_^;; Sorry. I'm a bit hyper. Enjoy!!  
  
Disclaimer: No! I don't own Dragon Ball Z or Sailor Moon!  
  
The Saiy-jin Scouts by Crystal Rose  
  
Chapter 6 ~  
  
Out in the scorching heat of the desert six figures could be seen, standing tense, their eyes focused ahead on a large steel door. A short, bald man stood beside a large namekian, sweat beading his brow as he shook with fear. The namekian stood tall, his jaw clenched in anger as he waited beside others. A man with wild black hair that spiked upwards stood smirking in confidence, while a lavender-haired youth stood behind him, his fear visible. Off to the side, two other men stood, waiting. One had two large scars crossing his cheek, the other a third eye.  
  
"Hah!" Vegeta stepped forward arrogantly, "I'll take care of this."   
  
Before anyone could stop him, he fired a large ball of energy straight towards the steel door, smashing it in to reveal a peeved Dr. Geroe and a young man and woman, or so it seemed.  
  
"Number 17! Number 18! I order you to DESTROY THEM!!" The android tossed his black hair over his shoulder in an unconcerned matter.   
  
"Hnh," He smirked, "Why should we listen to you?" The doctor continued to rant, oblivious to the evil glint that had appeared in the android's eye. Turning to face android 18, Geroe tried once more to regain his creations' obedience.  
  
"YOU ARE MY CREATIONS! I GAVE YOU LIFE!! YOU MUST O...! Ohh!"   
Gasping in surprise, Doctor Geroe looked down to see the hand of android 17 protruding from his stomach. The Z fighters all looked on in horror, as the android calmly withdrew his hand.  
  
"YOU! YOU CAN'T!! I..." Any more words that the doctor might have said were cut off as Android 17's foot connected with his head, neatly decapitating him. Krillin's eyes widened in terror as Dr. Geroe's head rolled over towards them before being crushed beneath 17's feet. Eighteen walked up behind him, smirking.  
  
"I've awaken 16. He seems...interesting." Eighteen gestured behind her towards another, much larger android with blue eyes and orange hair.  
  
"Yes, well..."   
  
KABOOM   
  
A small explosion sounded above. Snapping their heads up they saw...could it be? Yes, a space ship. Were they being attacked? What was going on? As soon as the ship became visible, it was clear that it was dangerously out of control. Debris flew behind it as it plummeted downward, closer and closer, headed straight at them for a crash landing. The androids looked on with mild interest. Android 18 stepped forward to get a better look, her hand raised to shield her eyes.  
  
"What the..."  
  
Quickly regaining his senses, Piccolo turned to the rest of them.  
  
"RUN FOR IT!"   
  
It was almost too late. The ship was only thirty meters or so from the ground, debris showering down threateningly as large shards of metal lodged themselves into the ground. Running like mad, the whole gang scattered when the small meteor of a spacecraft impacted, glass shattering in all directions as they all hit the ground, arms raised to shield their faces. Seconds later, everything quieted and an eerie silence swept across the land as they slowly got to their feet to search the crash site. The ship, or whatever it had been, was completely destroyed and unrecognizable, reduced to a heap of scrap metal. Fragments of the ship littered the ground, surrounding a much larger piece of   
metal they speculated to be the main chamber. Whoever had been in there certainly wasn't alive anymore. The ship had crashed right on top of Dr. Jeroe's lab, causing the cave's collapse. A small explosion of metal and earth drew their attention. Standing triumphantly were android 17 and 18 with 16 standing just behind them.  
  
"Well, hello there," Number 17 greeted.   
  
The Z fighters all developed a defensive stance, all but Vegeta that is, who proudly stepped forward.  
  
"Hnh. I'll fight you," He smirked. Nodding to 18, 17 addressed the over-confident Saiy-jin.  
  
"Fine by me, but you'll be fighting 18 over there." Vegeta snorted in disbelief.  
  
"Just don't get too wound up when I defeat her." Smiling cockily, Vegeta burst out in yellow flames that died away as quickly as they had appeared, leaving in their wake, a super Saiy-jin.  
  
The two flew off a ways, Vegeta immediately going on the offensive as number 18 nimbly dodged each of his attacks effortlessly. Vegeta, on the other hand, was putting all of his energy into a furiously fast paced attack. The effort of keeping this up was obviously becoming a strain on the Saiy-jin prince as he began to tire. Piccolo growled angrily.  
  
"He's weakening! This is exactly what they want," he gritted out through clenched teeth.   
  
"At this rate, he won't have any energy left to defend himself," Tien stated gravely.  
  
"Exactly." With an air of finality, they all turned to watch, waiting for the inevitable to happen. At that moment, the Saiy-jin prince plummeted to earth, crashing into a large boulder.  
  
Vegeta looked at the android in horror as a terrible realization dawned on him. 'She...she's been toying with me! All this time...'  
  
"Ahhh!!" A gut wrenching scream came from Vegeta as his arm was twisted savagely.  
  
"No!" Trunks screamed out before whispering brokenly, "Father..."  
  
Out on the battlefield, android 18 stood above Vegeta's kneeling form, her face a mask of ice.  
  
"How foolish. To think that you could defeat us androids. Well, it all ends here." Raising her hand, she paused slightly, "And to think, we're all just a bunch of machines, too. Right?" Smiling cruelly, energy flared about her hand, growing brighter by the second.  
  
Trunks stood beside the others, shaking in anger. Right as android 18 released the ball of energy, Trunks screamed in rage as he turned super Saiy-jin and simultaneously flew towards Vegeta, too late it seemed, as someone else had beaten him to it. He watched in confusion as the ball of energy was deflected by bright red ki that flew forward like an arrow out of nowhere.  
  
The Z fighters and Trunks, who was still suspended in the air, looked about in confusion to spot five young women standing only fifty feet or so away, each wearing battle armor that looked frighteningly similar to Vegeta's. Saiy-jin armor, they realized with shock. Standing near the front was a young woman with long black hair flowing out behind her, the red tints in her hair showing as they caught the rays of the sun. With her hand still outstretched, she stared down upon them, her red eyes gleaming. Four other women stood about her, all strangely intimidating.  
  
"What?!" Krillin looked at the women with shock. None of the Z fighters knew what to think of this. The strange appearance of these other-worldly beings was unexpected, to say the least, if not odd.   
  
"Well, what have we here," Number 17 suddenly appeared beside 18, landing   
gracefully.   
  
A young woman with bright orange eyes and golden orange hair stepped forward and smiled.  
  
"We, the planetary five, will not tolerate such behavior," She stated bravely.   
  
Off on the sidelines, Piccolo wondered what in kami's name these women were doing. The fools. They'll only get themselves killed.  
  
"Oh is that so," Number 17 inquired, interested.   
  
Beside him, 18 watched the earthlings uncomfortably. No, she amended to herself, they are no earthlings. They don't seem to be from this planet at all. This was quite an unexpected factor in their plan, one that must be eliminated immediately!  
  
Meanwhile, 17 had been pondering about the unexpected arrivals as well, a scowl on his face. His scanners had read their power levels, revealing that they were astonishingly low. How they could have deflected 18's blasst with such low power levelswas unexplainable. Added together, they couldn't even equal the short bald-headed one's power level, which was already weak beyond comparison to the amount of power they, as androids, had at their disposal. It was simply impossible.   
  
"We have no quarrel with you," Seventeen stated, "Do not get in our way."  
  
"Hnh! Well you do now!" The woman in the green armor launched into attack, the woman in red from before followed immediately. The two women shot forth beam after beam of energy, while the other three women stood by, watching. Seeing the opportunity, Trunks headed towards his father, who had fallen unconscious, and carried him back to safety.  
  
'What are they doing?' Piccolo watched with disbelief. It didn't even seem as if they were trying! Did they actually think they stood a chance?!   
  
"Hearts of Love! Surround!!"  
  
Suddenly, the three women that had been standing off to the side jumped into the fight, appearing out of nowhere. The orange haired woman that had first spoken, held on tight to a scowling android 17, who had been caught in surprise by some kind of ki attack of hers after taking a hit from one of the other women who had unexpectedly joined the fight. Holding onto the end of the chain she had created with her ki, the woman glowed a bright orange, enveloping the android in it. Amazingly, 17 began to weaken and he fell to his knees with a grunt, panting heavily. The woman frowned a bit before watching the android become unconscious, or 'off line' as his systems shut down temporarily. Another woman in blue armor knelt down and enveloped the android in her own blue ki, her hands glowing as she did so, before jumping back into the fray.   
  
Similarly, Android 18 had been weakened when the same woman in blue shot her with a ki blast in mid air, seeming to immobilize her for a few seconds. That was all they needed, however, as the woman in green armor surrounded the android with a blast of green ki that spiraled about her body. Android 18 seemed to go stiff right before she too went limp, going 'off line' as she plummeted to the ground.  
  
The Z fighters watched on in astonishment and disbelief. These five women had single handedly defeated the androids with ease, when not even Vegeta, a super Saiy-jin, could touch them. They loathed to think how they would fare against them. The group all tensed in anticipation as the group of women suddenly turned towards them, leaving the two androids behind. As they neared, the group realized with shock that the group of women was much younger than any of them had previously thought and were in fact a group of young girls. Their youthful beauty was unmistakable as they stood before them, their eyes hard and calculating, scrutinizing them closely.   
  
"Who are you?" Piccolo glared at the girls suspiciously.  
  
The girls had all been silent in thought, waiting for the strangers to make their move. Seeing the opportunity arise, Rei had stepped forward, her tail unfurling from her waist to sway back and forth behind her as she walked, provoking many a gasp from the Z fighters.  
  
"Like we've said," Rei stopped just a few feet away from Piccolo, "We are the planetary five."   
  
"Where do you come from and what do you want," Piccolo growled.  
  
"Who are you that we should trust?" Rei glared back in a challenge of authority. Seeing the increasing amount of hostility, Ami quickly stepped forward.  
  
"Look, we mean no harm," at this Ami received a sharp glare from Rei, but   
continued nonetheless.  
  
"We have come here from a neighboring galaxy on a mission to find the strongest warriors living here."  
  
"That still doesn't explain why you all have tails," Krillin walked out from behind the large namek.   
  
"Yeah, and what about that armor?" Yamacha added.  
  
The girls all looked slightly uncomfortable as they fidgeted and looked away.   
  
"Huh! Just as I figured," Tien spat out, contemptuously, "Who sent you here! You bunch of filthy Saiy-jins!! If you think you can take over earth, well you've got another thing coming! The Z fighters will send you back to whatever hellhole you crawled out of!!" The girls cringed slightly.  
  
Trunks, who had been silent the entire time, looked down towards his father when he heard him stir at the mention of Saiy-jins.  
  
"What do you mean, filthy Saiy-jins?" Vegeta ground out dangerously.  
  
"Well what else could they be?" Yamacha motioned towards the girls, "Just look at those tails!"  
  
"WHAT?!" Vegeta bellowed as he spun around furiously to confront the girls, who seemed somewhat startled by the sudden movement. Quickly, before any fighting could break out, Serena stepped forward, her hands held out in a defensive guesture.  
  
"Please," She pleaded, "Please, stop. It is true, what you have said. We are indeed part Saiy-jin."  
  
"Part?" Trunks blurted out, bewildered. They certainly didn't look to be half-human.   
  
"Yes," Serena stood firmly, her silver hair blowing in the breeze. "We are all half Saiy-jin."  
  
"How? How is that possible?!" Vegeta raged.  
  
"The way it's been told to us, it appears that warriors from Vegeta-sei journeyed to our galaxy over a decade ago and fell in love. As a result, we were born."  
  
Vegeta sniffed in disdain after hearing the story, "Love indeed. Hmph!"   
  
"Well, in any case," Piccolo turned to face the girls, "I think you should come with us." Serena merely nodded.  
  
"What about those two uh...'androids' I think they were called." Lita pointed over her shoulder to where the androids lay immobile.  
  
"Bring them along."  
  
Soon the entire group was in the air, headed towards the Capsule Corp. building. Piccolo was near the front, along with Tien and Yamacha. Krillin hung back a bit with the girls, two of which were carrying the 'unconscious' androids.  
  
"By the way," Krillin piped up, "What did you do to those two?"   
  
"Oh them? They're simply out of commission at the moment." Mina smiled kindly.  
  
"Oh...okay," Krillin stuttered out, not really understanding.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   
  
"So what's it like back home?"   
  
Bulma leaned over towards the shy girls curiously. They all sat comfortably on a large couch in the middle of the brief's living room, looking slightly unsettled at becoming the focus of conversation. When they had arrived, the girls had opted to change back into their regular outfits, which nonetheless still looked formal and military, and reverted to their planetary forms to stand out less. The Z fighters had been shocked, to say the least, when they had suddenly changed appearances, but were fine with it for the most part and decided not to ask any questions until inside. Krillin had been sent off to inform some others about their arrival while Bulma had eagerly welcomed them upon hearing their situation, and had taken an instant liking to them, shy as they may be.   
  
"Well, where we come from, there are two circles of planets. Our planets all exist within the inner circle. Mars, Venus, Mercury, Jupiter, and Luna, better known as the moon."   
  
"Wow," Bulma was impressed, "How neat! Oh, how rude of me! I haven't introduced myself yet. I'm Bulma Briefs." Holding out her hand, she smiled widely. Serena smiled shyly before putting her hand in Bulma's.  
  
"I'm Serena and these are my friends," gestured Serena with a sweep of her hand. Ami, who sat next to her, smiled warmly.  
  
"Hello, My name is Ami."  
  
"I'm Lita. Nice to meet you." Beside her, Rei flipped her hair over her shoulder coyly.  
  
"Rei, how do you do?"  
  
"Hi! The name's Mina."   
  
"Well, it's great to meet all you girls," Bulma laughed merrily at their colorful introductions.  
  
"So! Where do you all come from? I mean which planets," Bulma's dad, Mr. Briefs walked into the room.  
  
"Yeah, I'd love to hear more about you and your homes." Bulma perked up.  
  
"Alright, I'll go first!" Mina volunteered cheerfully. "I come from the planet Venus, planet of love and beauty." Rei snorted and rolled her eyes.  
  
"Well, I'm from Mars, planet of fierce passion, though some would call us a people of war." Lita stifled a giggle.  
  
"Some?" Rei shot her a scalding look, causing Lita to hold her hands up in defense.  
  
"Ok, ok. I'm from Jupiter, a planet full of the most exotic plant life in our galaxy, though it's better known as the planet of the everlasting storm because of its wild weather."  
  
"I am from the planet Mercury, keeper of great wisdom."  
  
"And I am from Luna, the moon," Serena finished.  
  
"There's just one thing that bothers me," Bulma spoke once they were done. "How can the moon be considered a planet?"  
  
"Well a few decades ago, the planet that the moon had been orbiting exploded, leaving the moon to form its own orbit, and thereby becoming a planet itself," Ami calmly explained. Bulma nodded in comprehension.  
  
"Oh, I see! That makes perfect sense. I guess people are used to calling it the moon."   
  
Off to the side, Vegeta sulked angrily, refusing to believe such weaklings had defeated the androids. Trunks mimicked his father and sat quietly as well. Tien, Yamacha, and Piccolo all watched the girls' actions carefully.   
  
"Well that's all nice and dandy," Vegeta stalked across the room, "but why are you here now?"  
  
At this, all the girls seemed to divert their eyes in an ashamed matter, some bitter, some angry.  
  
"We were attacked," Lita spat out, "Our whole galaxy went under siege. It was war."  
  
"Well, what about you? You're warriors. Why didn't you fight?" Tien suddenly spoke up, his contempt for them from before resurfacing.  
  
"We did," Rei stood, indignant, "But..." Here she looked down with a fist clutched tightly, her eyes hard, "We couldn't do a thing to stop them. It was useless."  
  
"What?!" Trunks sputtered in his shock. He couldn't even fathom how strong their enemy must have been.  
  
"Yes," Ami spoke up, "You see. We had only discovered about our Saiy-jin heritage a month or so before the attack came. Our training time wasn't nearly sufficient enough. We were easily defeated."  
  
"Is that so," Piccolo's deep voice filled the room. "And now?"  
  
"We have improved somewhat, but not nearly enough to defeat our enemies."   
Serena stated gravely.   
  
"Hmm, and how did you happen to stumble upon Vegeta and the others?" Mr. Brief questioned.  
  
"Well, you see. Our space ship had suffered a terrible crash landing..." Serena thought back to the crash and how they had barely survived.  
  
Inside the wreckage, the girls were just beginning to stir. Groans of pain could be heard as they were pulled out of unconsciousness.   
  
"Ugh, who ran me over?" Mina groggily asked, holding a hand to her bleeding forehead, a trickle of blood running down her face. Beside her, Rei crawled to her hands and knees, only to begin coughing up blood onto the floor before bringing the back of her hand to her lips, effectively quelling her fit. Taking in a deep breath, she turned over to face the ceiling, panting for breath.  
  
"Where are we?" Rei panted.   
  
"No idea," Lita gritted her teeth as she pulled her leg out from under a piece of wreckage, a long and nasty gash on her upper arm. Holding her arm to stop the flow of blood, Lita sat up painfully, wincing as she did so.  
  
"I think I sprained an ankle," She turned to look at the others. The crash had left them in bad shape.  
  
"Ooh, I feel so dizzy," Mina moaned. Rei clutched at her side, looking towards Mina with concern.   
  
"Lita," Rei called over to the red head, "You think she may have a concussion?"  
  
"It's very possible." Both Lita and Rei looked up to see Ami standing weakly before them, swaying a bit off balance as she cradled her arm.  
  
"Ami, you ok?"   
  
"Of course. Just a broken arm. Nothing to be worried about."   
  
Kneeling down, Ami started to inspect Mina.   
  
"Hmm, I think it may be a mild concussion, but she should be fine."  
  
"That's good news," Serena wobbled over before collapsing onto the ground in a heap of cuts and bruises.  
  
"Serena!"   
  
"Are you alright?"  
  
"She's just exhausted," Ami calmly supplied. They were all somewhat doubtful since they all had their fair share of cuts and bruises, though not nearly to the extent that Serena did.   
  
"It's alright, really," Serena sat up.   
  
"Being the best off of us all," Ami stated, "I think that I should be the one to cast a healing spell, if anyone is to."  
  
"Don't be ridiculous, Ami," Lita replied, "We can all chip in to strengthen the healing spell... right?"   
  
At this, everyone nodded. Moments later, after a small debate, the group was much better than before. Most of their serious injuries had been taken care of, healed to the point that they were no longer excruciatingly painful, or life-threatening for that matter, and just served as inconveniences, leaving only their cuts and bruises to be dealt with. However, because of the energy required to cast the combined healing spell, they had reverted back to their planetary forms. Nothing they couldn't handle, though.  
  
Clenching one gloved fist, Lita punched a hole through the offending metal cage they had been trapped in, causing the bright light from outside to stream in. Tearing aside the metal, Lita made a makeshift door for them and stepped through, shielding her eyes from the sun. When she was out, she began to survey the land, looking for signs of life. The others girls all stood beside her now, scouting out the land as well. At the sound of something bursting through metal, the girls all dived behind the remnants of what had been their ship's main chamber, hoping to find some sort of shelter. The sound of someone talking drew their attention.   
  
"What's going on?" Mina whispered hurriedly, prodding the other girls, who had a better view of the situation.   
  
"Looks like a fight's about to start," Rei answered gravely.  
  
They all watched as the strangely unfeeling girl fought a man with blue eyes and blond hair spiked upwards. He was enveloped in his own ki, a bright yellow color. They all saw, with horror, what was about to happen when the man had his arm twisted brutally, his pain causing him to kneel on the ground. Bursting out in flames, in a flash of movement, Rei's arm shot out, releasing a ball of ki so fast, it flew through the air like an arrow. It was just in time to deflect the girl's attack and effectively save the man's life.   
  
They had then decided to join in the fight, sending Lita and Rei off to test the two beings while Serena, Ami, and Mina stood on the sidelines, studying the both the boy and girl's moves carefully. Sending Lita and Rei out also served as a means of distraction, so that the rest of the girls could come up with a strategy based on how their enemies fought. The next step was to simply execute the plan, which they did without difficulty.   
  
"After that, we met you and here we are," Serena finished her story.  
  
"Well that's certainly an interesting story."  
  
Everyone turned in shock towards the new voice. Standing there in the doorway, was Krillin, along with someone else, who was being supported heavily by him and looked somewhat sickly despite the large grin pasted on his face.  
  
"Goku!" Bulma got up immediately, "You shouldn't be out of bed! What would   
Chi Chi say?"  
  
"I'd say get your sorry looking behind back in bed!" A woman with black hair pulled up into a bun walked out from behind the pair, a small boy standing beside her. "However, since Goku was being impossibly stubborn. I decided to come along."   
  
"Chi Chi!" Bulma smiled and went over to hug her friend. "How are you?"  
  
"Oh, just fine. Goku's getting much better, but isn't anything near fully healed and my little Gohan is just so behind in his school work!"  
  
"Aww, I'll make it up, mom. Promise." The little boy walked in.  
  
"So, these are the girls I've heard to much about?" Goku promptly fell into an empty chair, a bit out of breath. Vegeta snorted rudely.  
  
"Well, Kakarott. You finally decided to show up. These girls here claim to be half Saiy-jin."  
  
"Really?! Saiy-jins you say?"  
  
"Yes, it's true," Rei glared at Vegeta menacingly.  
  
"Hnh! I doubt it."   
  
Rei looked to the rest of the girls, an unspoken question in her eyes. They nodded. Smirking triumphantly, Rei turned towards Vegeta, who now scowled fiercely.  
  
"Well maybe this will convince you."   
  
With that, the girls burst out in flames, their appearances changing in the midst of their transformations. When the flames had calmed considerably, the girls all stood proudly, showing off their new tails to the shocked bystanders.  
  
Goku was speechless. In all his years of fighting, he hadn't ever seen such a transformation where you changed species, or at least that's what it looked like to him. Pointing dumbly at the girls, his jaw wide open, Goku seemed to be in shock. That changed when a fist came crashing down on his head.  
  
"Goku! Stop gaping!! It's rude," Chi Chi admonished. Bulma just stared uncomprehending, a blank look on her face. It was an even bigger shock when Mr. Briefs calmly walked up to the girls, completely unfazed, to speak.  
  
"So, it is as I thought. You girls are the legendary planetary five." He nodded in confirmation when he saw the surprised looks on their faces.  
  
"How..." Rei trailed off uncertainly. Mr. Briefs sighed.  
  
"I guess the cat's out of the bag now." He mumbled to himself.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   
  
Whew! Am I glad that part's done! It took me forever to get it the way I wanted. Sorry if people thought Tien was OOC, but I don't know a whole lot about him. Once again, sorry for the wait. Please EMAIIIIIIIL! Or not. Anyway, hope to get the next part out soon!   
  
Crystal Rose ^_~  
  



	8. Chapter 7

Hey, is anyone still out there? *looks out into an empty audience* *sigh* Well, anyway. Here's the long-awaited(hopefully someone's still waiting) chapter 7. There's some very mild bad language, but other than that nothing much, so enjoy!  
  
Disclaimer: No! Dragon Ball Z and Sailor Moon do not belong to me!!  
  
  
The Saiy-jin Scouts by Crystal Rose  
  
Chapter 7 ~  
  
The room was filled with a deafening silence. All eyes rested upon Mr. Briefs. Some were shocked and many now eyed Mr. Briefs with distrust and suspicion. The girls were all slack-jawed, their eyes wide as they stared at Bulma's father, surprised beyond belief.   
  
Mr. Briefs looked about the room with an apologetic smile.   
  
"I guess it's time I told you all the truth," he looked down, hesitant. "I am not from earth, as you all think... In fact, I come from the same neighboring galaxy that these girls did."   
  
A heavy silence draped the room until a loud voice pierced the air.  
  
"What?!" Bulma shrieked, "I'm half alien!! No! How can this be..." She continued to rant and babble incoherently.  
  
"Ahem," Mr. Briefs sent his daughter a reprimanding look, "Please calm down Bulma."  
  
"But...but how did this happen?!" Bulma was on the verge of being hysterical.  
  
"Oh shut up, woman," Vegeta interjected rudely. Mr. Briefs coughed as he once again tried to regain the group's attention.  
  
"Yes, well perhaps I had better start from the beginning." Staring at the far wall, he seemed to lose focus of his whereabouts as he went back in time.   
  
"You see, I was just a young and ambitious scientist back then, something that was altogether far too common on the planet of Mercury. I dreamed of joining the Mercurial Association of Scientists, better known as MAS. Only the greatest of scientists were admitted into this elite group of individuals. To gain admission, you had to submit an original research project of your own design. During one of my experiments, I had stumbled upon evidence proving the existence of life forms in other galaxies." Here he stopped as his face took on a bitter look.  
  
"I submitted my discovery to them in hopes of admittance, but they laughed at me and said that my theory was preposterous! I tried once more, but they only turned me away and called me a fool. Furious, I even went so far as to modify the most advanced transportation system there was at the time, making it possible to travel directly into another galaxy, so that I may prove my theory."  
  
"The transport modulator..." Ami whispered in awe. Mr. Briefs nodded.  
  
"Yes. However, they still refused to listen to anything I said, so I decided to test it for myself."  
  
"And that's when you ended up here and became stranded when you realized there was no technology advanced enough to send you home," Ami finished. Mr. Briefs smiled.  
  
"That is correct. When I first landed here, I was in despair when I realized I would never see home again. Too late had I recognized the error I had made in not planning ahead, but eventually I settled down and learned to make a living here with what knowledge I had."  
  
"So you are the missing scientist that was reported over half a century ago," Ami concluded. "I remember reading about it. People had assumed you dead, Aurelius Schezar."  
  
"Wait a sec," Yamacha jumped up, "How did you know about them?!" He pointed at the five girls.  
  
"Oh, well that is simple. There is a prophecy that speaks of five young warriors that will rise when great darkness falls upon the planets of the inner circle. It has been told for thousands of years and is practically known by heart to every living person in our galaxy."   
  
"Well, I still don't see what this has to do with us," Tien frowned.   
  
"We need your help," Serena explained as she rose from her seat.   
  
"And why should we help you?" Vegeta sneered. Rei stormed over to him, thrusting her finger into his chest, furious and fed up with his behavior, her face inches from his.  
  
"Listen! You think you can just shrug this off? Well, let me tell you something. This is just the beginning!! Do you honestly think they won't come after you next?!!"   
  
Stepping back a bit from Rei's scalding glare, he scowled defensively, looking away from the raging fire that burned brightly within the depths of her eyes.  
  
"Hmph." He crossed his arms and sulked.   
  
"Well, then I guess we have no choice!" Goku smiled before breaking out into a coughing fit.  
  
"Are you ok, Goku?" Bulma went over to him, worried about her friend. He waved his hand dismissively.  
  
"It's nothing. I'm fine." Goku sat back, resting on the couch slightly winded. "Well, I guess we really are long due for introductions. I'm Goku, as you probably already know, and I see you've met Vegeta." He motioned towards the sulking Saiy-jin prince. "And that over there's Yamacha, Tien, Piccolo, and Krillin." He pointed to each person in turn.   
  
"Oh what sweet young girls," Chi Chi smiled sweetly, "I'm Chi Chi, Goku's wife." Pushing the boy from before in front of her, she looked down proudly, "And this is Gohan, our son."  
  
"It's a pleasure to meet you all," Serena smiled as she bowed, "Call me Serena."  
  
Ami was next to bow, "I am Ami."  
  
"Please forgive my earlier rudeness," Rei bowed gracefully, all traces of her previous anger gone. "My name is Rei."  
  
"I'm Mina," the blonde bowed cheerfully. Beside her, Lita followed suit as well.  
  
"Lita's the name."   
  
"Oh, please girls. Don't bow to these ruffians," Chi Chi went over to the girls. "It isn't necessary. Bulma?"  
  
"Huh?" Shaking herself out of her stupor, she smiled and waved her hand dismissively, "Oh, of course not. It's not like they'd appreciate something like that anyway, right guys?"   
  
"Hmph, well they should bow! They are in the presence of royalty, you know."   
  
"Oh Vegeta, get off your high horse," Bulma rolled her eyes. "Anyway, you girls looked bushed. It must have been a long day for you. What with crash landing and having to fight the androids! Plus, on top of that, you had to deal with being badgered all day," at the word badgered, Bulma glared at each of the   
Z fighters accusingly. "We would be more than happy to let all of you stay here at Capsule Corp., right dad?" She turned towards her father, her eyebrows raised in a questioning manner. He nodded.  
  
"Of course, of course. Anything for such pretty young girls. Why, if I didn't know better, I'd say they were fit to be princesses," Mr. Briefs winked.   
  
The girls all looked around in alarm, looking to see if anyone had caught what he had said, sighing with relief when they realized no one was paying them any attention.   
  
"Thank you very much. We are grateful for your hospitality," Ami replied politely for them.   
  
"So, we'll pick up this conversation tomorrow, ok?" Goku suddenly appeared from nowhere, causing the girls to jump a bit.  
  
"Ah, alright. Thank you very much for agreeing to help us," Serena said sincerely.  
  
"Hey, don't mention it. I know you've been through some tough times, but don't worry. Everything will turn out for the best," Goku smiled warmly, his hand resting on her shoulder in a friendly gesture.   
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   
  
"Hey, Lita," Mina asked, "How long do you think we'll be here?" Throwing herself down on the small bed opposite to Mina's, Lita sighed.  
  
"Hmm. I really don't know."   
  
The girls were once again in planetary form and had been amused at how easily everyone scared. They all jumped or felt the need to stare every time their transformations took place. They had yet to explain their ability to change appearances, but there was no hurry. All would be revealed tomorrow. Mina and Lita had volunteered to bunk together, and Serena was sleeping with Ami, leaving Rei a room to herself, which was fine since she had opted to sleep alone in the first place. Knowing Rei had insisted on sleeping in the only room available with a fireplace, the girls had wisely decided to leave her be, allowing her the privacy to perform any fire rituals she felt necessary.   
  
"Well, at least the people weren't ruthless killers," Mina joked. Lita giggled.  
  
"Yeah, that's a relief."   
  
Resting comfortably in their beds, the girls wore two pairs of pajamas that had been created from their enchanted clothing, which had changed shape at their will. Lita yawned.  
  
"I think we should catch some sleep," Lita mumbled.  
  
"Yeah, good idea. Goodnight, Lita." Mina whispered as she turned off the light. The only response she received was a light snoring coming from across the room.   
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   
  
Just across the hallway, Serena slept like a log while Ami busily typed away on her computer, soaking in page after page of information on the planet earth. A soft knock on the door sounded.  
  
"Come in," She said without looking up.  
  
"Princess..." Ami spun around in shock to face Mr. Briefs.  
  
"Mr. Briefs! Please, not so loud," She whispered, holding her finger to her lips. "They mustn't find out who we really are."  
  
"Why? Why would you want to deceive them?"  
  
"We feel it necessary for this mission. We don't want them having any biased opinions about us because of our lineage."  
  
"Oh, you mean not counting those already formed because of your Saiy-jin heritage?" Ami sighed.  
  
"Look, we just think it will make things less complicated. You must promise me you won't tell!"  
  
"Of course. Anything you wish, princess Ami." He bowed and exited the room as she continued to type once more. Outside, leaning against the door, Mr. Briefs paused for a moment, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. After all these years, he still remembered royal protocol after all. He sighed.  
  
'Old habits die hard.'  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   
  
Meanwhile, Rei was in her room, concentrating solely on the heat of the fire before her, its bright flames flickering in the dark room as she slowly slipped into a state of oblivion. A strange vision came to her.   
  
...You knew this day would come ...I must go   
  
A strange man stared down upon her proudly, his features obscured by the fire. She could see herself as a toddler, reaching out for him, her chubby arms flailing in panic.  
  
...daddy...don't go...don't go...don't go...  
  
"Ahh!"   
  
She gasped as she suddenly came to her senses, the vision fading. The words, however, kept repeating like a mantra in her head, pounding into her, giving her a headache as she tried to meditate in order to calm herself. She couldn't take it anymore.   
  
Jumping up in a torrent of frustration, Rei swept out of her room and headed towards the kitchen. It was tinted a strange dark blue by the moonlight that streamed in through the balcony doors and into the surrounding darkness that dominated the room. Having quelled her frustration to a tolerable level, she tiptoed quietly into the room, heading towards the doors that led out to the balcony with an almost giddy sense of freedom. Reaching out towards the cool metal handles, she began to pull the doors open when...  
  
"What are you doing here," A deep voice came from behind her.  
  
In the pale moonlight, the silhouette of a man could be seen. Eyes widening in sudden fright, Rei got into a defensive stance as her body underwent the transformation she knew so well, momentarily engulfing the room in red light. Her hand shot out in front of her, ablaze with fire as she pressed herself against the smooth surface of the glass doors, her heart beating erratically.   
  
"Who are you?" She spoke in a steely voice.  
  
He stepped forward, the light from the fire illuminating his face as he neared her hand. She sighed agitatedly.  
  
"Oh, it's you," She slumped against the doors, secretly relieved. Vegeta snorted.  
  
"Well?"   
  
"Well what?" Her hands rested on her hips as she stared at him indignantly.  
  
"I asked you what you were doing here, girl," He growled out menacingly, "Trying to escape and call on your mignons for a midnight attack?" Vegeta sneered at her.   
  
"Ugh," She massaged one temple in an extremely agitated manner. "Will you give it up, already?" She sighed again as she opened the doors, allowing the fresh, crisp air of the night to enter the room. She stepped out into the refreshingly cool surroundings, her hair blowing about gently with the wind.   
  
"I was simply getting some fresh air, alright? Can you deal with that?" She spoke in a voice that was devoid of any scorn or malice. It as if all her anger had been carried off with the wind.   
  
"Hn," He muttered, "Women." She smiled slightly.  
  
"You know? You remind me of someone I once knew." He raised an eyebrow, waiting impatiently for her to continue.  
  
"Well, get on with it." She stared off into the sky wistfully.  
  
"You remind me of...my father..." She trailed off. He seemed to choke with realization, before shaking his head slightly in denial, his usual cocky grin back on his face as he struggled to remain composed.  
  
"How...how could you possibly have known your father?" Vegeta's voice wavered slightly, almost undetectably. Almost. Rei smirked.  
  
"Wouldn't you like to know...brother," She turned now to fully face him, her eyes blazing with conviction as she stared at him, forcing him to believe her.  
  
"You..." He stumbled backwards with the force of her words.   
  
"It's a bit hard not to recognize your hair, not to mention you bearing the royal name of Vegeta, you know." She walked up to him, arms crossed, as she watched him smugly.  
  
"But...but you said your father left you when you were only a year old!" Vegeta stuttered.  
  
"Yes, well my mother had the decency to tell me what little she knew about my father...or should I say King Vegeta." Vegeta snorted.  
  
"So, the old man went and had himself a child, did he? Hn, I'm not surprised."   
  
This time it was Rei to look startled. Vegeta turned to look at her, his lips pursed.  
  
"What? You think I didn't suspect? He was gone for two whole years, for Kami's sake! You'd think I'd notice as his only son!!"   
  
His fist was clenched before his face in anger, his eyes glistening in the moonlight as his whole body shook. Rei softened with sympathy and smiled gently at her newly found 'brother'. He stared up in shock as he felt the touch of a small hand on his shoulder. They gazed into each other's eyes in a rare   
moment of enlightenment as they seemed to gain a new understanding of each other.   
  
CRASH  
  
The sound of glass shattering broke the trance as they both looked down from the balcony towards the ground.   
  
"What was that," Rei unconsciously moved closer to Vegeta as she peered over the edge cautiously. Vegeta's eyes narrowed as he tried to focus down on whatever was moving on the ground.   
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   
  
"Damn!"   
  
Number 17 swore under his breath as he removed himself from beneath the pile of scrap metal he had found himself under upon awakening. His movements were still somewhat stiff and awkward thanks to whoever had paralyzed him in the first place. He rubbed his arm and scowled.   
  
"Eighteen," He whispered. Then, a little louder, "Eighteen!"  
  
A groan came from beneath the pile of metal. A piece of white cloth caught his attention. Drawing closer, he could now see the shape of a small glove. Leaning down, he gently took hold of it.   
  
"Eighteen," He spoke quietly, "Are you operational?"   
  
The hand that lay enclosed in the glove squeezed slightly, yet that was all seventeen needed as he quickly hauled eighteen from the mess, a raucous of noise resulting.   
  
"Shh," Seventeen motioned for Eighteen to keep quiet as she regained control over her body. Though her clothes were ripped and torn in places, she was physically fine and more than able to function.   
  
"What's going on?" Eighteen asked.  
  
"We've must have been brought here by those earthlings," Seventeen replied. 'That's odd. I could have sworn I could actually detect confusion and fear in Eighteen's words, but...that's not possible...is it?'  
  
"I...I feel strange," Eighteen voice wavered for the first time in decades, "Seventeen..."  
  
'Eighteen...you feel it too?'  
  
"I...think I understand," Seventeen looked down towards the ground in thought. 'When did this occur?'  
  
"So...what should we do about it?" Seventeen looked up into the waiting face of Eighteen's. He smirked.  
  
"Make the earthlings pay for what they've done to us, of course." He flashed a toothy grin before heading off towards the building up ahead.   
  
Speeding towards their destination, the two androids soon made it to the entrance of the Capsule Corporation building. Waiting for them were one of the girls from before, her black hair barely visible in the dark shadows of the night. Her companion stood beside her, tall and proud, his arms crossed smugly across his chest.   
  
Rei was slightly worried. On the balcony, both she and Vegeta had recognized the two androids immediately. Unfortunately, Ami was nowhere in sight and her own magic would be less than useless against the androids. Vegeta, however, had ignored this and left nonetheless. She had followed hastily, shouting as she did.   
  
"Vegeta! It's useless!! Paralyzing isn't in my power! I won't be able to stop them!"   
  
"Then just do what you do best!! There's a reason why you have a specialty, you know!"   
  
She smiled slightly when she remembered what he had said. Standing beside Vegeta, she had regained her confidence and stood ready for anything. This is how the two androids found them when they landed. Seventeen stepped forward angrily.   
  
"So, it's you again," he sneered. She clenched her jaw and began glowing a dull red as she glared at him in defiance. Eighteen stepped out from behind Seventeen and smirked.  
  
"We meet again," She watched Vegeta smugly, though was unable to keep the frown from her face as her gaze fell upon his arm. "I see you're fully healed." Disappointment dripped from her words.  
  
"Well, you know us Saiy-jins," He smirked.   
  
"Yes, you're all a bunch of sore losers," Eighteen crossed her arms haughtily.  
  
Rei smirked, her expression a perfect imitation of Vegeta's, and held out her hand, palm facing upwards.   
  
"That may be so, but the last time we met, you hadn't even gotten a taste of my little bag of tricks." Her hand burst into flames and her smirk deepened as she caught the looks on the androids' faces.   
  
"Let's play," Rei jumped into action and began her fiery assault against android eighteen.   
  
Meanwhile, Vegeta and Seventeen hadn't moved an inch and stood frozen, staring death at one another. Seventeen watched the Saiy-jin closely, awaiting his first move. Vegeta, however, went over the numerous plans of evasion in his mind, knowing fully that without one he would most likely perish at the hands of his enemy. His eyes narrowed somewhat as he finally came to a decision. He smirked and uncrossed his arms.  
  
"Well, are you prepared to meet your fate?" The sound of Vegeta's voice echoed in the night as he crouched down into position. Android Seventeen cocked an eyebrow suspiciously, still motionless. Vegeta tensed unnoticeably. It would be a long shot, but...  
  
"Yah!"   
  
Rei came down hard on android eighteen, not giving her any chance to retaliate as she tried to overheat her circuits with flame after flame of hellish fire. It seemed to merely anger and frustrate the android further. Not a good sign. Rei was already panting heavily and the android hadn't even broken a   
sweat, but seemed to become further enraged with each blow. It was obvious, however, that Rei hadn't gotten away totally unscathed from the many cuts and bruises she now bore.   
  
"Ah!"   
  
Another of the android's hits connected as they fought in midair. A trickle of blood flowed down to her chin from the corner of her mouth. Rei gritted her teeth as she continued to struggle to keep the android from gaining the upper hand. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she noted Vegeta jumping into   
action. Chaos ensued.  
  
"Ugh!" Vegeta grunted in pain.   
  
For the last few minutes now, he'd been being beaten senseless by the android, just barely holding on. Just a few moments before, the battle had just begun. He had immediately shot a large blast of ki that lit up the sky, blinding all on the battlefield. The attack wasn't really an attack at all and was more a kind of distress signal, aimed at catching the attention of the others. Seventeen had scoffed at the small light show and proceeded to beat the snot out of him. Rei wasn't doing very well either, he knew, and would soon give out from exhaustion. Kakkarot had better get his lazy ass out on the battlefield soon. He gritted his teeth against the pain, swaying on his feet as he came dangerously close to unconsciousness.   
  
"Damn it, where are you Kakkarot," he panted as he jumped back into battle.   
  
Rei swore under her breath as she saw Vegeta being pummeled into the ground from the corner of her eye. She'd been lobbing fireball after fireball, but nothing seemed to faze the android. She'd even resorted to arrows, which were much more damaging and harder to dodge or block. However, they had no   
effect whatsoever on Eighteen, or if it did, it certainly didn't show. Things were not looking good for her and Vegeta.   
  
"Oof!"   
  
Flying through the air, Rei crashed into the ground at a painful speed, the impact knocking the wind out of her. She gasped painfully for air and watched helplessly as the android began her descent, set on destroying her. Her body, exhausted and beaten lay unmoving, her spirit broken as she watched, feeling strangely detached from herself. She closed her eyes and silently asked for forgiveness from her friends, her family, her galaxy. She begged to be forgiven for her failure. A tear trickled down the side of her face.   
  
'Goodbye.'   
  
She waited...and waited...for the demise that did not come.   
  
"Hiyah!"   
  
A voice...it sounded familiar. Just barely able to open her eyes, the last thing she would see before the world went black would be three dark eyes.   
  
Tien sighed as he bent down to sweep the unconscious girl into his embrace, cradling her with his strong arms as he frantically looked about him to ensure their safety. He spotted Trunks out of the corner of his eye, furiously defending his father. The girl named Serena stood just behind him, backing up the young super Saiy-jin as he went head to head with the powerful android seventeen. Just ahead, the girl dressed in green, Lita he remembered, fought all out against android eighteen. Goku was nobly trying to help out as he fought alongside her, his exhaustion apparent as he panted heavily while wiping the sweat from his face. The odds were slim, but if they played it carefully, they just might be able to pull this off. He grunted as he lifted into the air, heading towards the front of the capsule corp. building, away from the battle.   
  
Just emerging from the building, Ami and Mina stared in horror at the catastrophic scene before them. As Ami moved to join the fight, Mina quickly stopped her with the touch of a hand upon her shoulder.   
  
"Mina," Ami turned to give her a questioning glance, but Mina only shook her head.  
  
"Don't. If they're paralyzed again, the situation will only repeat itself, becoming worse than before because of the time the android's anger will have had to fester and grow."  
  
"But, what is there to do?"  
  
"We'll just have to reason with them."   
  
"Mina, they're androids! They have no feelings or respect for life," Ami retorted.  
  
"Then I'll just have to do it myself!!"  
  
"That won't work! Mina!" Ami cried as Mina flew off, heedless of her warning. She turned in mid-flight, yelling over her shoulder.  
  
"Don't worry, Ami. Remember! My element!" She flashed a quick smile, giving the victory sign before she sped on towards the battlefield.   
  
Meanwhile, Trunks had been fighting tooth and nail against android Seventeen, but without much luck. Vegeta lay fallen just a short ways behind him.   
  
"Watch out Trunks!" A high pitched voice shouted out to him.   
  
The ki blast Seventeen had sent his way erupted harmlessly, miles away. Trunks acknowledged Serena with a curt nod. He had to admit it felt awkward having the girl at his back, but he was thankful nonetheless, as long as she stayed out of harms way.   
  
"Trunks, distract him for me! I've got an idea!"   
  
Serena shot off towards android Seventeen's backside before Trunks could put in a word edgewise. His eyes narrowed dangerously as he reluctantly left his father's side to engage in close combat with the android.   
  
"Just a little closer," Serena whispered to herself as she approached the two fighters.   
  
Inching bit by bit, she slowly neared the android as she positioned herself for a quick landing.   
  
"Aha!" In a flash of silver, she was down on the android, who landed with a thump. Groping for his forehead, her hands began to shine a blinding white.   
  
"Sleep," She commanded, stepping back quickly in case she had failed.   
  
The result was different than intended, but would have to do. Instead of going into a state of unconsciousness, Seventeen had shakily gotten to his feet, swaying back and forth as he fought to gain his balance. It was as if the spell had turned him into a drunk. He stumbled forward, trying to shake off the effects.  
  
"Ahh! What did you do to me!" Android Seventeen was in a fit of rage.   
  
"Seventeen!" Eighteen stopped momentarily to witness the event, "Seventeen, what's wrong?! AHH!" She screamed as she crashed down to earth under the weight of Lita's body. There she lay, pinned. The only thing preventing her from flipping the red haired girl off of her was the deadly ball of green ki being held just above her face.   
  
"Don't even try it," Lita panted heavily. Behind her, Goku collapsed almost imperceptibly. The sound of Chi Chi running out onto the field in tears towards her husband could be heard. Thunder struck in the distance as it began to rain. The sound of millions of water droplets pelting the ground drowned out   
anything else.  
  
Suddenly, as if by a divine power, the dark clouds that had gathered above them parted in a beam of pure and golden light. Floating within the beam of light, was a being of utmost beauty. Her hair floated about her in all its golden glory, a long flowing dress as bright as the sun adorning her delicate figure. With her hands held out to each side of her body, her eyes, once closed, opened slightly as if she was waking from a long dream. The symbol of Venus flared upon her forehead as she opened her eyes fully, the golden depths like liquid sunshine, warm and inviting. She looked down lovingly, as a mother or a lover would, descending towards the body of Seventeen, which lay illuminated in the middle of the circle of light, curled tightly in a ball of misery. The Z soldiers all looked on in awe, the girls in admiration and respect. As if   
frightened for the lovely being, Yamacha, who had just recently arrived to witness this miracle, stepped forward, his arm outstretched.  
  
"No, don't!"   
  
Quickly going to restrain the warrior, Ami shook her head and motioned for him to stay put. The woman, a goddess some would say, simply turned and smiled kindly at them both, as if to say she understood and that all would be right with the world. With this, a kind of peace seemed to steal over the group, even as the rain continued to pour down upon them. Even Eighteen sat enthralled, too absorbed to notice or care that Lita wasn't even restraining her any longer.   
  
Floating down gently, she reached the shaking body of Seventeen, placing her hand upon his shoulder as she lifted his face to hers with the other. She smiled, embracing him gently, the look of shock on his face melting into mild confusion as he slumped in her arms. Pulling away slightly, she leaned down   
slowly, coming closer and closer. Their lips touched in a brilliant flare of gold that encompassed all of their surroundings. Seventeen now floated weightlessly in the air, suspended by the power of Venus as he glowed a bright orange. The woman appeared before Eighteen as well, the android too entranced to do a thing as the woman waved a hand before her face, putting her into the same deep sleep android Seventeen had fallen into. Once again, that secretive smile.   
  
The world around them was restored and the heavenly being was gone, the only traces left of it being the androids, who still floated above the ground, glowing a bright, bright orange. The rain began to dissipate almost immediately, the clouds parting to reveal the rays of the sun, peeking through the darkness   
to shine upon a figure that lay sprawled upon the ground, the sign of Venus flickering out of existence on her forehead.   
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   
  
So, hey. How was it? A bit weird?(always will be with me writing ^_^)  
This chapter was very hard to write, I'll admit, and I ran into a small writer's block along the way. Sorry, if it sucks. Anyway, if you have any personal questions about the story, email me at crystal_rose@senshi-mail.zzn.com(it's hard to remember all the questions and then post them on my next story chapter!)  
  
Otherwise, REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!!!   
  
  
Crystal Rose  



	9. Chapter 8

Whoa! I haven't been writing in ages. ^_^;; Sorry bout that folks! Well, it's always easier to apoligise to a smaller crowd *looks around and spots a person in the audience...asleep* *Sigh* Anyway, here it is for those of you who were loyal enough to wait.  
  
Disclaimer: No! Sailor Moon and Dragon Ball Z do not! (I repeat) DO NOT belong to me!!!!!!!   
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   
  
The Saiy-jin Scouts   
by Crystal Rose  
  
Chapter 8 ~   
  
Voices   
  
"How is she?"  
  
"I'm...not sure, but I think she'll pull through..."  
  
"Mina..."  
  
Voices surrounded her. It was if she was lost in a sea of nothingness, unable to move or think.   
  
Light...golden...warm  
  
She reached for it, longed for it with all her might, but it recoiled, staying just out of her reach. The voices became hushed and subdued, whispers at the edge of her mind as she tuned them out. In the silence she could hear a single voice, soft and gentle. It emanated from the small light, now pulsating with life as it shined brightly.   
  
"No...no little one...you must return to yourself...awaken..."  
  
Suddenly, everything faded from view, the bright golden light disappearing as her surroundings became cold and barren. She could feel herself being torn from this place, now dark and lifeless, no longer holding the comfort she had initially felt. She screamed...  
  
Or at least she tried to. Instead, she inhaled a mouth full of water. Gagging immediately as a reflex, she opened her eyes in shock, a developing sense of fear beginning to take over her mind. She'd been imprisoned in some sort of water tank. Looking around, she quickly discovered there was no way out. The monitors beside the cell began to give off a sound of warning as her heart beat escalated at an alarming rate. She panicked and began to bang on the cell's glass barrier.   
  
Seconds passed.  
  
The door burst open as Bulma rushed into the room. The girls were hot on her heel as they rushed over to see what all the commotion was about. Various looks of fear and worry adorned their faces. There, in the tank, Mina was slumped against the glass on her knees, just barely holding on. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she heard them enter and feebly raised her head. Looking on through her oxygen deprived state, everything seemed to blur together as she struggled to continue holding her breath. The urge to give in seemed increasingly welcome as the seconds ticked past. An anguished look came upon her face as she tried to convey her message of utmost regret to her friends. Her entire body became limp as she lost consciousness, floating once more in that lonely sea of nothingness.   
  
Meanwhile, Bulma just kept tying and typing, the only sign of distress being a small frown...  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
For the second time, the world came into focus around Mina as consciousness returned to her. The sense of lethargy passed and her senses began to sharpen. The sound of a machine running became audible, the monitor just beside it beeping softly. Her head began to clear as memories sorted and rearranged themselves. Then, she remembered...  
  
Gasping for breath, Mina found herself sitting upright in a small cot, the thin material of the gown she wore rustling slightly. A variety of wires ran from her body to connect to machines that lined the walls. She looked about the small room with confusion.   
  
"What..." She didn't get a chance to finish, though, as the girls burst in, followed by a few Z soldiers. Bulma weaved her way through the crowded room agitatedly.   
  
"Back it up, you guys," She shooed them away before putting a hand on her hip as she lectured with the other, "I need some room to work, and she," Bulma emphasized while pointing to Mina, "needs breathing space, not to mention lots of rest, which she can't get with all of you hanging around!" She took a deep breath at the end of her small speech before whipping about to get a look at her patient.   
  
"Now let's take a look at you..."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   
  
Outside, the others waited impatiently. The girls all bore looks of anxious worry, while in the corner, Vegeta, who had somehow been bullied into coming by a certain someone, sulked in a corner. That certain someone sat across the room from him, giving him a look that spoke of certain death if a certain complaint was spoken. He pursed his lips silently and turned to glare back at his impertinent, younger sister. She crossed her arms and raised her nose slightly in a haughty manner as she turned her back on him to join in on her friends' conversation. He smirked.   
  
This exchange was lost, however, on the rest of the occupants in the room, as they did not know of their kinship and were too concerned with their own discussions about matters at hand.   
  
"So, what do you think that was?"   
  
Yamucha questioned the small group in a whisper. Beside him, Tien frowned slightly and Goku stared down at the floor, lost in deep thought. Piccolo, who had been silently observing the scene, moved to speak, his face shadowed with suspicion.  
  
"Whatever it was, the result was incredibly powerful," he ground out.   
  
The others all nodded in agreement and fell silent, as there was no more to be said. However, back in the girls' corner, the discussion was far from over. Huddled together, their faces grim, the girls talked back and forth urgently, their voices just above whispers. Currently speaking, Rei stood tall, coolly reprimanding the group.  
  
"Serena," her voice was short and clipped, "You know as well as I that merging is highly dangerous and should only be attempted by those well practiced with utmost caution."  
  
"Yes, but you know how Mina is. She was only trying to help and..."  
  
"Mina should have known that she wouldn't be able to hold control of her body. It was her first time and she was inexperienced in that field as it was."  
  
"I know Rei. It's just that I don't think she should be condemned for saving our lives. Even if there was such a risk involved."   
  
With that, Serena broke off, biting her lip as she stared at the floor, trying to hold back the tears. Rei sighed and moved to comfort her friend, draping an arm across her shoulders as she leaned down to smile sweetly into Serena's red face.  
  
"Hey," she soothed, "It's alright. I'm not mad, just frustrated. I know how worried you are about Mina, but I just don't want any of us taking any unnecessary risks."   
  
"I know, Rei," Serena glanced up tearfully, "but I'm just so afraid...for all of us."   
  
Rei nodded and moved to embrace her reassuringly. Ami, who had been quietly analyzing their situation, turned to look at Lita, an unspoken question in her eyes. Lita merely nodded. Ami took a deep breath before timidly stepping forward.  
  
"I-I think that it would be best for us to tell the Z soldiers about our ability to merge." Serena stared at Ami, a slightly confused look on her face.   
  
"Why?"   
  
Behind her, Rei's eyes reflected the same question as she mumbled to herself, "Yes, why indeed."  
  
The shy girl looked down, slightly flustered, "Well... I think that by telling them more about ourselves that they, in turn, will reveal more to us. With fewer secrets between us, we'll be able to understand one another easier and... gain one another's trust. It will benefit all of us greatly if we do so and we'll be able to function better as one large team."   
  
As the last sentence tumbled from her lips, she stole a glance towards her teammates, and found them all speechless and in thought, that is except Lita. Truthfully, it had been her idea in the first place, but she had thought it better that Ami present it to the group with her genius to back it up. After the incident with Mina, she had rushed over with her suggestion. Ami thought it was brilliant and secretly admired Lita for such tactical thinking.  
  
"Good idea, Ami!" Serena smiled brightly. Ami blushed.  
  
"Well, actually it was Lita's..."  
  
"I agree," Rei suddenly spoke, "but we should still keep information that is irrelevant to the mission to ourselves." Her stern voice left no room for debate. The girls nodded their assent and the atmosphere lightened considerably. It was then that they realized that the room had gone silent. Someone yawned.  
  
"Gee, I wonder how Mi..." The rest of Lita's sentence was cut off as the door to the small infirmary slammed open. There, in the doorway, stood Bulma, a wide grin plastered on her face.  
  
"Hi, guys! I'm all done here." She cheerfully stepped aside to reveal a surprised Mina who stared out into the crowd of people, eyes wide.  
  
"Uh...h-hi," She stuttered, her voice small and unsure. The room exploded with noise.  
  
"MINA!!!"   
  
"How do you feel?"  
  
"We were all so worried!"  
  
"Are you hungry?"  
  
"Would you like to take a bath?"  
  
"You want to come sit for a while?"  
  
The questions droned on and on as the girls surrounded her, squealing with excitement. The Z soldiers all looked on in awe. Some covered their ears miserably, their heads pounding painfully as large headaches developed. Vegeta gritted his teeth in frustration, sick and tired of this foolish behavior.  
  
"SILENCE!!" He barked. The girls all stopped to stare in surprise, as did the rest of the room's occupants.   
  
"Hmph! You'd think they'd teach you some manners back where you came from," he snorted in contempt.   
  
His 'sibling's' eyebrows rose at the statement, but she refrained from commenting. That was no problem, however, as Bulma conveniently covered that area.   
  
"Vegeta! You leave those girls alone and be nice!!"  
  
"Woman, I don't answer to anyone," He sneered.  
  
"Aw come on, Vegeta," Goku cut in, "Just let them be. How would you feel if someone you cared about got hurt?"   
  
"How would I know. I'm not a pathetic weakling like you, Kakarott," Vegeta retorted crossly.  
  
Finally, Rei couldn't resist any longer and strutted forward slyly, a smirk on her face as she fixed her gaze on the Saiy-jin prince.  
  
"Well that's funny. Last time I checked, 'Kakarott' had the highest power level."  
  
Rei came up to Vegeta and imitated his stance, the two facing off in a battle of wills with Rei still smirking and Vegeta narrowing his eyes hatefully. Time seemed to stop as the two stared into each other's eyes, both of them stubborn as mules. Someone coughed and Vegeta seemed to come to some sort of realization as he snorted and turned away.  
  
"I don't have time to play childish games." he said as he left the room. Goku seemed to perk up at the comment.  
  
"H-hey! Wait up, Vegita!!"   
  
Jumping up, he raced after the irate Saiy-jin like a child running after the ice cream truck.  
  
The room was silent. Before anyone could say a word, though, Ami quickly spoke, much to the surprise of Rei.   
  
"We, I mean the girls and I, have decided that perhaps more important matters should be discussed over dinner."   
  
She paused a moment to look suggestively at the gang of warriors, who were a bit dumbfounded and slow to respond.   
  
"Fine."  
  
The rough sound of Piccolo's deep voice came from the back, surprising Ami slightly. She was allowed a view of the Namekian as the Z soldiers parted like of herd of sheep for their shepherd, looking to him for guidance. Her eyes widened momentarily as she took in his appearance.  
  
"Uh...Mr. Piccolo was it?" She asked uncertainly.   
  
He grunted in response, thus thickening the tension in the room. Bulma decided that now would be a good time to jump in and break the ice; feeling such, the woman awkwardly bounded into the room with a smile that was more likely better suited on a clown.  
  
"SO! I guess it's settled then. I'll go ahead and start getting dinner ready. Chi Chi you'll give me a hand won't you? Meanwhile, why don't you all freshen up and get to know each other better."   
  
And with those few words of encouragement, she left the two groups of fighters to their own devices. All was silent for awhile as everyone struggled to come up with something to do, something to say. Someone cleared their throat.   
  
"So, anyone care to fill me in on what's been going on?"   
  
With the whole episode between Rei and Vegeta, they'd all forgotten about Mina.   
  
"Hmph, no thanks," Grumbled Rei, "I'll leave it to you girls."   
  
She stalked off, much in the same manner that Vegeta had previously. Mina looked down, slightly ashamed as Lita sighed.  
  
"Hey, you know she's not really angry at you," The tall brunette tried to soothe the bite of Rei's words.  
  
"Yeah, you know how sensitive Rei is when it comes to...well...you know," Serena smiled kindly.   
  
Mina heaved her shoulders in an exaggerated sigh, "Yeah, well I guess I can't really blame her. It was really reckless of me, seeing as I'm not really experienced in merging at all!"   
  
The rest of the conversation faded out as the girls headed upstairs to clean up and prepare for dinner. The rest of the Z soldiers had left earlier. Tien, Chaozu, Yamucha, and Krillin headed off to Master Roshi's while Piccolo headed off to meditate.   
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   
  
A few hours later, the dining room table was covered in dishes of food as the last of the girls arrived. The Z soldiers were already eating, Goku and Vegeta stuffing themselves full as the girls picked at their food. Lita smiled and ventured to complement Chi Chi on her cooking. The woman blushed and the two struck up a conversation immediately. Serena ate quietly beside her and Ami seemed somewhat nervous while Mina smiled brightly, occasionally giggling at something one of the Z fighters said. The one who seemed most disturbed about their situation, however, was Rei. She sat with her hands in her lap, staring down into her food at something no one else could see. No one save Vegeta seemed to take notice. His eyebrow rose slightly before he took on his customary smirk.  
  
"What's the matter? Does the food not meet your expectations?" The Saiy-jin prince mocked her. Rei sniffed hautily before replying, "No, it just seems that the sight of you has caused me to lose my appetite."  
  
He laughed, "I suppose I can understand how intimidated you must be by my power. It's no wonder you can't even bring yourself to eat in my presence," his smirked smugly at her, almost as if daring her to contradict her.  
  
"Oh, please! Don't flatter yourself so. It's making the others sick," she replied, eyes closed as she took a bite of food.   
  
Vegita glanced to the others, his gaze lingering particularly on Goku, Gohan, and Trunks, who had recently returned. He raised an eyebrow mockingly in a look that clearly said, 'Is that so?'  
  
Rei's jaw clenched painfully as her eye began twitching in irritation. Letting out a deep breath, she quickly dismissed her anger, her voice taking on a serious tone.  
  
"Anyway. On to other business." The room quieted suddenly, even Goku had stopped eating to listen.   
  
"I suppose we owe you an explanation for the past few events," Rei began, looking to the other girls before continuing.   
  
"Well, first of all, perhaps you should know that in our galaxy, each planet worships a god or goddess relative to the planet and each planet's deity guides the people of their planet, determining their way of life."   
  
Looking up from her lap, she addressed all of those present with the burning gaze of her bright red eyes.   
  
"You see, as inhabitants of those planets, we, the girls and I, have the ability to connect spiritually with our gods and goddesses, enabling us to draw upon their infinite wisdom and power to accomplish all sorts of feats. That is our simple right in living under their guidance."  
  
"So basically," Goku jumped in, "it's kinda like asking your parents for help, right?"  
  
"Uh, I suppose you could look at it that way..." Rei said hesitantly.  
  
"Kakkarott, you idiot. What does that have to do with drawing upon a god's power?!" Bulma nodded in consent.  
  
"For once, I'd have to agree with Vegita. I mean, just look at it this way, Goku. King Yama's not your father, is he?"  
  
After hearing that, Goku cringed slightly and seemed to wilt in his chair.  
  
"Yeah, I guess you're right..." He scratched his head and smiled sheepishly.  
  
"So, if you've got access to all that power, why did you come here?" Tien asked in an accusing tone.   
  
"It's not so simple!"  
  
"And why not?" He countered.  
  
"It...well..." He snorted contemptuously at her stuttering, convinced of her guilt.  
  
"You don't understand!" Mina stood up suddenly, startling everyone as the other girls had nearly been forgotten since Rei had taken over the discussion.   
  
"It's not a thing to take lightly! Merging could be fatal and only a few of us are capable of it!!" Once the words left her mouth, Mina's eyes widened minutely and she quickly turned to face Rei. She gasped as everyone watched Rei crush the glass in her hand, the blood starting to drip on the table as her bangs obscured her face from view.   
  
"Rei...," Bulma looked up with concern.  
  
Standing from the table, her face still blocked from view, Rei quietly walked from the table and disappeared up the stairs.   
  
"Merging..." Mina continued quietly as she looked down, a look of shame on her face, "...merging is a dangerous process. Only those with the highest skill should ever attempt it, and with the utmost caution," Mina recited Rei's words from earlier and the room became silent.  
  
The sound of a chair being scooted backwards immediately caught everyone's attention as they all looked up to see Vegita getting up from the table. Turning his back to them, he started towards the stairs.  
  
"Hey, Vegeta. Where ya goin?" Asked a confused Goku.  
  
"Upstairs, if you couldn't already tell," he replied irritated.   
  
"Oh..."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   
  
Upstairs in the bathroom, Rei lay in a heap on the floor, her long mane of fiery red hair draped over her crouched figure to pool on the cold floor. Her eyes, a deep blood red now, stared off into nothingness as her hand, still covered in glass shards, lay lifeless beside her.   
  
Only a few of us are capable of it!   
  
She unconsciously clenched her injured hand into a tight fist, reveling in the pain it brought her, a way to escape the harsh reality. To others, perhaps she was overreacting, but...  
  
You can't... You're not nearly strong enough...   
  
The voices...they all mocked her...mocked her dream.   
  
His power is too strong to be controlled... You must never attempt it!   
  
She'd always been the spiritual one of the group, living by her religion and being a devout worshipper. She'd always felt there was some special connection between herself and the gods, something that drew her in. However...  
  
Impossible! Chaos shall ensue...   
  
She would never be able to take the final step, the ultimate proof of her devotion. Merging with her god was almost unheard of as, first of all, only a few ever reach the level of skill required to even attempt such a thing, and secondly...secondly, the risk was all that greater because of who her planetary god was. Aries, god of war. It was recorded that hundreds of years ago, the merging of a man with Aries caused a civil war so horrible, almost two-thirds the population had been annihilated. Since then, it was almost forbidden to attempt this. Almost because there was a way, but there were so many laws surrounding that subject that people no longer bothered. Breaking those laws was also not worth the reward, as the punishments behind each were very severe and in many cases demanded death. Her mother had strictly forbidden her from ever even thinking about it, but she dreamed of the moment she and her god would be one.  
  
When she'd told Serena she wasn't angry about Mina's actions, she only told part of the truth. She bitterly admitted to herself that she'd been resentful and almost envious of her, spiteful because she'd succeeded with such blind luck.   
  
'And on her first try too...'  
  
"Well, there'll never be a first time for you, so just forget about it," She whispered to herself, the overwhelming feeling of self-pity growing from within.  
  
Just then, the door swung open and standing in the doorway was Vegita. Startled from her reverie, she blinked in confusion as he simply stood there, not saying a word. She watched as his eyes darted to her bloodied hand, before moving back to her face. He walked in and grabbed her wrist firmly. She squirmed a bit in his grasp, confused at his actions. His hand tightened painfully and she gasped. His eyes narrowed and he loosened his grip as he spoke for the first time then.  
  
"Keep still."   
  
He then began carefully extracting the jagged pieces of glass from her hand, placing them on the bathroom counter. During the whole process, Rei refused to look at him and had her face turned away in shame. She closed her eyes against the tears when he moved away, but they snapped open in surprise again when she felt him gently bandaging her hand. When he'd finally finished, she waited for the stinging remarks to come.  
  
"So, are you just going to give in to your own weakness?" The prince spoke in a surprisingly resigned tone of voice. He sounded almost...disappointed.   
  
"I don't know what you're talking about. I'm just worried for Mina, for all of us," she paused slightly, "There's so much--"  
  
"Bullshit," the prince abruptly cut her off, his voice low and dangerous. "I can't believe you're even related to me," he spit out venomously.  
  
Her head bowed low at his comment and a few teardrops splashed onto the bathroom counter.  
  
"Saiy-jins..." The prince began again, his voice softer now, "never give up and never back down. We're a stubborn race, but in the end, we always get what we want."   
  
She waited for more, but was surprised when his hand lifted her chin upwards, forcing her to face him.  
  
"Where's your sense of pride...Leitanna?"  
  
She looked up in shock, but he was already gone.   
  
Leitanna...  
  
The name sounded so familiar. She was sure she'd heard it before. She thought back to her childhood, her mind straining to remember, but it seemed the information she so desperately sought was just out of reach. She groaned in frustration, a hand going to her temple. She was developing a headache again. Like every time before, whenever she tried to remember certain details of her past, she always came up empty, and all she got for her efforts was a large headache. Even stranger, when she was around seven or so, she remembered asking her mother why she couldn't remember how old she was at times. Her mother had responded simply that I just wasn't old enough to keep track of such things, not seeming bothered by the least by the odd question. The more she thought about it, the stranger it seemed to her. She sighed. Her life had always been surrounded with mystery. She should learn to get used to it.  
  
Brushing her hair back from her face, she gingerly took care of the glass left on the counter and looked at her reflection. Vegeta was right, for once. How could she just give up. No, she'd train hard to become strong, hopefully strong enough one day for her dream to come true. Her eyes hardened with determination, her reflection staring back at her in an unspoken challenge. She grinned, the fire in her eyes burning hotter than ever.  
  
"I won't give up, and you won't either!"   
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   
  
Meanwhile, downstairs the table had been cleared and most of the Z soldiers had left. Sitting alone at the table was Mina. Unusually silent, she'd stayed behind as one by one, the others left for some reason or other. The girls had all gone up to bathe. Night had fallen a couple of hours ago, but here she still sat, thinking. What had happened during that time she'd been merged with the Venusian goddess? All she could remember was a bright golden light, warm and loving as it enveloped her with...with.   
  
"What?" Mina wondered aloud.  
  
From what the others had told her, she'd somehow 'connected' with the two androids, as the girls put it, though how they didn't say. However, she had become somewhat suspicious of the reason ever since the girls had recounted the story, blushing and giggling the entire time. Thinking through all the possibilities, she herself blushed a bright red. Hurriedly pushing the thoughts out of her head, she brought her mind back to the subject at hand.   
  
'Which was?'   
  
She sighed. Who could remember what her original purpose had been with all the jumbled thoughts floating about. Standing abruptly, she walked out onto the balcony and stared out into the night sky and her thoughts suddenly turned back home. I wonder how mother's doing? I hope they hold out all right. The girls and I still have a lot to learn, but I pray we'll become strong enough to save you all. She thought back to the attack on the Moon Palace and remembered their weakness. Then her thoughts came back to today and the other recent events. Looking down at the battle worn ground, it struck her that she hadn't seen the androids ever since the battle. Thinking hard, she suddenly remembered vaguely seeing two other tubes beside her own when she first awoke in a panic-stricken state.   
  
Walking back inside, she carefully retraced her steps and found the laboratory she'd been in just this morning. It was considerably large and had many different rooms and sections. She spent a large amount of time just making sure she wasn't getting herself lost, something she was sure would bring her great embarrassment come morning when they'd have to find her if she did. Tiptoeing through the large laboratory, she wondered why she was even going to such lengths to find him...them...and with such secrecy. Why didn't she just ask Bulma?   
  
'It's too late,' she reasoned, 'You can't just go and bother her in the middle of the night because you can't sleep.'   
  
With this fact established, she silently moved onward, hoping to stumble upon the room as soon as possible. Luck was with her that night as she suddenly found herself in a large room with a high ceiling. Before her were three long tubes of glass, the ends connected to the ceiling and floor. Looking around, she finally found a light switch and eagerly turned it on. She was slightly surprised to find that instead of flooding the room with light, like she had previously thought, the switches turned on lights that illuminated the three tanks. Casting an eerie blue light about the room, the three tanks seemed to glow as she approached them curiously. The one in the center was empty, no doubt the tank she had occupied recently. To the left, android number eighteen floated lifelessly, her blond hair curling up and away from her face, which was tilted downward. Her heart started beating a bit faster as she turned to the last tube, knowing what, or perhaps who, awaited her.   
  
'There he is,' she thought, strangely excited.  
  
His dark hair floated about his face, a few strands straying across his forehead as he slept peacefully. Her eyes roamed down past his face to inspect the rest of his body. He seemed unharmed for the most part, but his clothes were ripped and torn in places. Walking closer, she gently laid one hand on the smooth surface of the glass. Watching him, she almost felt sorry for what she'd done, if the situation was as she'd suspected. She searched his face closely, looking for some sign of her magic's effect on him, but saw nothing. She sighed. She wouldn't know for sure until he awoke. The only true visual sign that he'd been affected was the slight orange glow he emitted, which was caused by the traces of magical residue left behind.   
  
"Number Seventeen..."   
  
She yawned, feeling exhausted all of a sudden. Sitting down on the cold metallic floor, she leaned back against the cool glass, her eyelids drooping. Her last conscious thoughts consisted of one dark haired boy, his icy blue eyes wide with shock as she...   
  
CRACK  
  
She stirred slightly, slowly coming out of her deep sleep as her eyes fluttered open in confusion. What had awakened her?   
  
CRACK  
  
She jumped slightly, her head whipping around towards the source of the sound, only to find with horror that the glass was cracking. Her eyes widened; just as she got to her feet, the glass tank exploded violently, shards of glass flying everywhere. Thrown to the ground by the force of the explosion, Mina lay sprawled on her back, her arms protecting her face from the flying debris. When her breathing had finally calmed, the adrenaline wearing off, she moved to sit up, but as she did, she realized for the first time that there was something heavy draped over her. Her eyes widened and she gasped as the thing on top of her stirred, propping itself onto elbows and knees before a pair of clear blue eyes were revealed. They widened in shock as they took in her face.   
  
"It's you!"  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   
  
So...um what'd you guys think? REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!   
  
Oh and by the way, I'm not sure if I got it right or not. That guy in heaven with the big horns who sits in the humungous desk judging dead people IS king Yama right? Please correct me if I'm wrong. ^_^  
  
Crystal Rose ^_~ 


	10. Chapter 9

Um...here's the next chapter *wonders if anyone will bother to read it...sigh* Anyway, no real fighting yet, but training will be starting up soon. Plus, the background for future couples is being set, if you can probably tell (if you read this *hint hint*). Oh, just go read it!  
  
Disclaimer: No, I don't own Dragon Ball Z or Sailor Moon (I thought you'd know that by now! ^_^;;)  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   
  
The Saiy-jin Scouts by Crystal Rose  
  
~ Chapter 9 ~  
  
Back in the galaxy of the five stars, a spacecraft hovered in the darkness known as space. Floating aimlessly, it continued in its own orbit, invisible currents of gravity rotating it constantly. It was large and circular in shape, made so that a simple glimpse at the vessel would create the illusion of a large meteor. Upon closer observation, one could see the true nature of the drifting object, its surface giving off a metallic glint. However, there were no windows, not even the smallest piece of glass to allow a look inside.   
  
Hidden within the thick walls of metal, a single figure kneeled on the cold and unforgiving metal floor, head bowed as a sign of great respect. A large throne sat in the shadows, illuminated by only a sliver of light to alert others to its presence. A deep voice filled the room.  
  
"Galateia..." The figure seemed to bow even lower at being adressed.  
  
"How much progress have we made in the northern sector?"  
  
"Lord Chronos, V4257 is currently under seige."  
  
The woman replied in a meek voice. The room seemed to get colder as the soft sound of laughter pierced the air. The twisted sound of glee that came from the shadows halted abruptly as the deep voice spoke once more, its malevolent tone shocking to the ears.  
  
"Ah yes, planet Venus. So filled with love. I can plainly see why people love it so. Those beautiful, barren deserts. So plentiful! Have you ever seen anything more beautiful?"   
  
A picture suddenly appeared on the floor. Scorching sands of the Venusian deserts, an unfortunate few rotting in the sun, their bodies surrounded by piles of bones. A graveyard of sand.   
  
"How wonderful nature is...," the voice commented, "Make sure that's all that's left of it."  
  
A firm command. The woman simply nodded and disappeared in a flash of light.   
  
"Yes...wipe them out, one by one. Soon, there'll be no place left to hide."  
  
In the darkness, a small voice could be heard, soft and feminine...  
  
"That's right...make them all pay for what they did..."  
  
The sound of shrill laughter followed as twin gems glowed red in the dark.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   
  
Meanwhile, back in the lab, two pairs of eyes fixed solely on each other. Blue against blue, an eerie silence had descended upon the two figures lying entangled on the floor. Then...  
  
"You..." A cold voice filled with hate, "You did this to me!"   
  
Suddenly, Mina found herself looking down into the face of android Seventeen, his face twisted in fury as he held her by the throat, a few inches above the floor. She gasped for breath as tears started flowing down her cheeks.  
  
"I...I'm s-sorry," She choked out.  
  
She could feel his grip tighten and she prepared herself for the end, when he abruptly threw her to the ground with a sound of disgust.  
  
"You," he sneered, "You're sorry?"   
  
He snorted contemptuously, stalking towards her with deadly intent in his glittering blue orbs. Just as he reached her, the lights snapped on and both were temporarily blinded. When the light had faded somewhat, Seventeen took on a defensive stance, his eyes narrowing as he took in the sight of four girls and an irate-looking Vegita.   
  
"Mina!" Serena called out, worry etched all over her face.  
  
"Get away from her," Lita immediately jumped into action, android Seventeen going on the defensive as she attacked.  
  
"Mina, are you all right?" Serena asked as she and Ami rushed to her side.  
  
"We heard the alarms go off and came as fast as we could," added Ami.  
  
"I'm fine Serena."  
  
Mina quickly turned to watch the fight between Seventeen and Lita escalate as the copper-haired Saiy-jin suddenly threw a spell at the android, who's eyes widened in horror before he collapsed to his knees, holding his head. Lita seemed to close in for the kill, a bright green ball of ki resting in her palm. Just as she released the deadly ball of energy, something or someone screamed, and in a flash of orange light, Mina rushed to the android, shielding his body with her own. She waited for the pain to come, but was shocked when the blast was somehow deflected and erupted just before them, chunks of metal flying upward from the explosion. As the dust began to clear, she could faintly see something glowing red.   
  
"R-Rei!" Mina gasped out loud.   
  
There she stood, her body still glowing red from the transformation as she brought her hand down to rest beside her, the other propped up on her hip as she gave Mina a wry look.   
  
"I figured you might do something foolish," she commented.  
  
"Rei," Mina stared, slightly shocked, as the other girl turned to look her in the eye.  
  
"You'll take care of this, won't you?" She stated more than asked, her eyes darting over to android Seventeen momentarily. Mina's eyes widened at the understanding in Rei's dark, red eyes.  
  
"Of course," Mina replied, "I take full responsibility."   
  
For the first time since they'd arrived at the scene, Rei smiled, the hidden meaning in her words clear to both of them.  
  
"Che," Vegita interrupted rudely, "Why the hell did you drag me up in the middle of the night for anyway?" He asked, his gaze directed on Rei.  
  
An eyebrow rose questioningly in response.  
  
"My, Vegita," Rei's tone became playful once more, "Are we feeling a bit left out?"   
  
He snorted, "I can't believe you," he whispered under his breath. At this, she brightened instantly.  
  
"I know! You can carry me back to my room."   
  
She smiled wickedly, throwing her arms around his neck as she jumped on him. He teetered forward a bit before regaining his balance. Tilting his head to the side, his eyes narrowed, he mumbled something through gritted teeth.   
  
"What?" she mocked, "I can't understand you when you grit your teeth like that."  
  
"I SAID GET OFF!" He shouted.   
  
"Is that a blush I see?" She poked at him.  
  
"AHH!!" He abruptly knocked her flat on her bottom as he stalked out of the room, darkness engulfing him.  
  
"Vegita!" Rei screamed indignantly from the floor before jumping up and chasing after him. Her screams could be heard echoing down the hallways as she pursued the Saiy-jin prince.   
  
"Uhh..."  
  
No one quite understood the odd relationship between those two. Always bickering, yet never in a truly spiteful way, not to mention nothing really physical ever came out of it, something that was especially odd since they all knew of Vegita's violent tendencies. The rest of the girls all shifted around a bit, unsure as to how they should proceed.   
  
"Ahem," Serena's gentle yet firm voice caught their attention, "Ami, Lita...I think it'd be best if we all went back to bed now."  
  
"But-"  
  
"Come on Lita," Serena turned towards her authoritatively. The copper-haired saiy-jin nodded in defeat as she powered down to her normal self.   
  
"Ami?"   
  
The attention now on her, Ami blushed and nodded awkwardly.  
  
"Well, we'll be going," Serena smiled, cheerful once more it seemed as they left the room.  
  
Mina blinked a couple times as she realized that it was just the two of them now. Once more, She was alone with android Seventeen. She hesitated slightly. She had almost forgotten about the android in her heartfelt attempts to right whatever wrong she'd done in Rei's eyes. But...  
  
She slowly turned around, fearful of seeing those hateful eyes, those eyes of ice. There he was, still crouched on the ground whispering something. She knelt down beside him to hear and gasped in shock. Lita's spell was still affecting him and now because of...because of her...he...  
  
"How horrible," She whispered, embracing him like before. They both glowed a bright orange as she sent her magic out to counter Lita's spell of illusion. When she was finished, she cautiously moved away to see his reaction. As his eyes finally cleared and focused on her face, there was a look of childlike confusion as he touched a finger to one of his tearful eyes. He stared at the cool liquid and she could hear his unspoken question.   
  
"It's a tear."   
  
At the sound of her soft voice, he looked up into her face, looking so lost she could have cried. He quickly turned away, his hair falling forward to curtain his face.  
  
"I'm an android," came his shaking voice, "Androids..."  
  
"Don't feel?" She questioned gently, "I don't think that's true in your case anymore."  
  
This statement, spoken so calmly and truthfully, seemed to set something off in the android.   
  
"No...No!"   
  
He began furiously pounding the floor, the metal surface giving way as he continued his furious assault. She watched silently as he let out his anger and tears, but firmly took hold of his wrists when he began to bleed.   
  
"Is it so bad?" She asked when he finally stilled and became silent.  
  
"I-I know you must be confused an-"  
  
"Ha!" He stood, facing away from her, "What would you know! How could you possibly understand the turmoil within me...my emotions," he spat out the word hatefully.   
  
She stood, suddenly angry with his stubborn attitude. Why did he consistently push humanity away? What's wrong with having a heart?! She walked over to him, her steps deliberate as her hands fisted by her side.  
  
SMACK   
  
His eyes were wide with shock...and still more confusion. He sat on the ground, holding his cheek as she stood before him, passionate and full of emotion.  
  
"Listen! I'm sorry for how you feel, how you must be feeling...but I'm not sorry for what I've done! This is a gift...a heart. There are so many experiences out there, waiting for you. Alright, so not all of them will be good, but everything serves to make us stronger! Don't you want to be strong?"   
  
She paused, not expecting an answer.  
  
"I was strong...stronger than anyone!"  
  
She laughed bitterly, "Don't delude yourself, Seventeen. Do you know why these earthlings have triumphed in the past? Why they'll always triumph in the future? It's because they have heart! And their hearts urge them on with a fierce passion that can't be replicated."   
  
She looked pointedly at him as she said this last part. He sat quietly, his legs drawn up to his chest, a lost child once more. Sensing his resignation, she knelt down beside him and place a hand on his shoulder, waiting for him to look up. She smiled when she saw his face. He finally seemed ready for salvation.   
  
"You were right earlier when you said I couldn't possibly know what's going on in that head of yours. The truth is, I don't think anyone could, but I'm willing to try and understand. I want to help you, truly, because I feel...no, I know that this is my fault and I must take responsibility for it."   
  
"So," He replied, his voice weak and resigned, "I'm your responsibility, huh?"   
  
She blinked in mild shock before giggling slightly. She immediately stopped at the dark look he gave her, coughing a bit to keep a straight face.  
  
"Well, I suppose you could look at it that way..." She bit her lip, trying to hold in her laughter, but failed miserably as she broke out into a fit of giggles. Falling to the floor, she finally got control of herself to see him staring at her oddly.  
  
"Are you ill?" He questioned cautiously. Unfortunately, this only caused her to burst into laughter again.  
  
"What's wrong?" He asked, truly puzzled, "Did you short-circuit or something?"   
  
The honesty in his voice sent her into hysterics as she gasped for breath.  
  
"Oh, oh my stomach!" She continued laughing.   
  
The android simply sat back, looking almost frightened at the odd behavior she was displaying.  
  
"Hey...hey, I'm serious!"  
  
"I-I know you are!" She could barely speak as a few tears splashed her cheeks.  
  
"W-What am I supposed to do?!" He seemed to panic as she was unable to answer.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   
  
Making her way out of the Capsule Corporation labs, Serena quickly headed upstairs, muttering a brief goodnight to Lita before slipping into the room she and Ami shared. In her haste, however, she didn't take notice of the fact that her roommate had not followed her in. Such a thing was unimportant to her preoccupied mind as she sat on her bed, staring blankly at the wall. She blinked...once...twice, before finally coming out of her stupor to realize she was still fully dressed. Shaking her head slightly, she quickly stripped down to her undergarments and crawled into bed, not bothering with her pajamas. Lying down, she soon found her new point of interest to be the ceiling and sighed loudly when she realized she was beginning to stare blankly into the creamy white surface as well. She closed her eyes deliberately, pulling the sheets up over her head as she recalled her earlier thoughts.   
  
Mina...  
  
She almost smiled as she thought back to the shocking scene of Mina protecting that Android, and a sudden feeling of sadness swept over her. Mina and the other girls were already forming so many lasting bonds here on earth that she feared the day they'd have to leave would come bearing great pain. How she'd love to spare everyone that pain, but she and the others certainly couldn't just ignore their duties and stay, nor would she allow herself the luxury of denial. She knew that day was coming, just as the others did. They'd all have to stand tall and fight, but...until then...  
  
"Think happy thoughts," she whispered to herself.  
  
It was a saying her mother had often said to her as a child whenever she brooded or sulked. It was hard to believe, but she was very quiet and pensive as a child. She remembered fondly how her mother used to pull her from the dark corner of her room and cheer her up with this simple phrase.   
  
Jumping out of bed, she quickly threw on her pajamas, a sudden urge to see the stars overpowering her. She tiptoed cautiously down the stairs, careful not to trip and fall in the darkness. When she finally reached the bottom of the stairs, she paused hesitantly, not sure of where to go. A few seconds later she turned decisively towards the living room, which had a large window, perfect for stargazing. She settled herself quietly down beside the large pane.  
  
Looking up into the night sky, she wondered how her mother was faring against that witch Galateia. Just thinking about that woman sent chills up her spine. They would have to destroy her when they returned, if they could return at all. She sighed warily. Upon crashing onto the earth, their ship had been reduced to a heap of scrap metal, and although Mr. Briefs had readily agreed to fix it, she doubted anything could be done in time.  
  
She groaned a bit and covered her face with her hands. It was all such a big mess! How could they possibly do this on their own? Could they become strong enough to save everyone back home? Why did this happen to them? Why?! She sniffled slightly, wiping away her tears as she leaned against the window's cool surface, suddenly feeling greatly fatigued.   
  
"Mother," she whispered, "Give me strength."   
  
And saying so, she placed a hand onto the cool glass, seemingly reaching out towards the shining stars and hoping that one of them was home.   
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   
  
Upstairs, Lita tossed and turned in bed, trying to fall asleep. She was failing miserably and knew it as she stuck her head under her pillow and violently struck the mattress beneath her. She groaned miserably as her attempts to rid herself of her frustration and anger only served to feed her emotions. This just wouldn't do! Throwing the sheets off in an act of defiance, she stomped out of the room, noting that it was a good thing Mina wasn't there.   
  
'No, she's down there with...with...that thing! Ugh!!' She just couldn't understand. He was the enemy, wasn't he? They had to tread carefully. Perhaps, the Z soldiers could afford to take chances, but they needed to draw a line here and now. She recalled a saying she'd once heard back on Jupiter: 'trust must be built early on in the game to serve as a shield against doubt and fear when the true battle begins.'   
  
She rushed downstairs, her fists clenched as she mumbled incoherently to herself. Almost running to the kitchen, she nearly tripped over a chair before reaching her destination. Looking around the large room, she seemed to calm slightly as she took in a few deep breaths and slowed her movements. Searching in cupboards and grabbing things from the fridge, she began assembling the necessary ingredients. While pulling out a bag full of flour, she paused momentarily as she thought of home. She smiled softly. She'd once been caught cooking up a storm in the palace kitchens, and had been scolded by her mother quite severely. 'How can the people look up to you when they see you doing menial chores, covered in flour and grease,' her mother had said. She sighed. Those were the good old days, but now...her thoughts took a turn for the worse as she recalled the attack on the moon palace.  
  
'Now, home is just a barren war zone,' she thought bitterly.   
  
Her mother had once told her that in case of an emergency, the five heads of the system would go into hiding, and if she was correct, the current situation definitly called for emergency measures. The others had no idea how bad the situation really was. In going into hiding, they left a large part of the population open to destruction, but she knew the decision had not been made lightly. She only hoped they could return in time to save them and the people.   
  
As she continued working, the first rays of the sun began to peek over the horizon, shedding light onto the shadowed lands of earth. Miles away, a large waterfall began to flow a clear crystal blue as light descended onto its shimmering depths. The rising mists just barely concealed a head full of blue hair as a few rays fell upon the dark locks and revealed the pale face of a young girl. She stirred slightly as the light shone across her face, groaning a bit as she came to. Throwing a hand out to shield her eyes from the blinding sun, Ami sat up sleeplily, yawning as she became fully conscious. She observed her surroundings with a bit of confusion before recalling last night.  
  
After the whole incident with Mina, she'd never felt so useless in all her life. True, her friend had needed no real protection in the end, but she hadn't known that then. All she did was stand there, spilling out excuses. She was so ashamed. She hadn't even thought to heal her. Or at least she could have asked about her well being like Serena. Lita had taken immediate action, fighting to protect Mina without any other thoughts. Why didn't she jump in to fight the android? Ami shook her head, trying to hold the tears at bay. She'd done absolutely nothing...and the others knew it.   
  
'After all, Serena hadn't even noticed her disappearance, so she must have been extremely upset and disappointed in me,' thought Ami guiltily.  
  
'But Rei,' a voice in the back of her mind whispered, 'Rei didn't do anything either...'  
  
'No, that's not true!' she argued with herself, 'Rei was observant enough to understand things better than any of us, predicting Mina's actions and saving her from injury.'  
  
She shook her head again. No, there was no way she'd allow for the blame to be misplaced. She was weak, so terribly weak. Looking up, she suddenly found herself deep in the forest.  
  
"Oh no," she whispered, a feeling of dread creeping up on her.   
  
She hadn't meant to wander that far away, but now...she was lost. She kept walking in hopes of somehow stumbling upon the house, but instead came upon a beautiful waterful. Already half asleep, she stumbled over to a clump of grass, the sound of rushing water lulling her to sleep.  
  
Yes, she'd fallen asleep on the mossy banks of the waterfall, the continuous roar of rushing water soothing to her senses. Standing, she wearily stretched in the light of the rising sun and yawned slightly, blushing cutely when she realized another's presence.   
  
"M-mister Piccolo?" She wondered, turning around.  
  
"How did you know?" came his rough voice.  
  
He seemed mildly shocked at being discovered, intrigued really, a single eyebrow raised as proof of this, but he quickly put it aside and walked up to the girl. His towering height was intimidating to most, however, Ami found herself strangely comfortable with the large being and looked up at him curiously.   
  
"I...don't know," she answered honestly. He grunted, dropping the subject.  
  
"So, what are you doing out here?" She inquired softly.  
  
"Shouldn't I be asking you that? Why aren't you back at Bulma's," he questioned suspisciously.   
  
She blushed again, looking down at her feet as she explained how she had gotten lost last night.   
  
"Why did you wander off in the first place? This isn't home. You can't just go wherever you please and expect to be safe," he seemed to lecture her.   
  
"Well, you see..." She sat down on the damp grass dejectedly, "Last night, one of the androids attacked Mina..."  
  
"What?!" He shouted, alarmed. She quickly put up her hands to ward him off.  
  
"P-please don't worry, she's fine and the android is under control." He immediately calmed, somewhat interested now.  
  
"Anyway," she continued, staring into her lap, "last night...last night..."   
  
Her voice wavered and diminished to nothing. Piccolo, perplexed by her behavior, was about to prod her on, until his sensitive ears picked up the sound of her sobbing. He stepped back, unprepared to handle a crying teenage girl, but quickly halted.  
  
'Ugh, no. This won't do.'  
  
Resolutely making his way over to the weeping girl, he took in a deep breath before kneeling down before her and placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. He was shocked when she threw herself at him, holding onto him as if he were a life saver as she cried into his shirt. Closer now, he could hear her muffled cries.  
  
"I didn't do a thing to help...couldn't do anything. I'm so weak...so useless. How can I help my mother if I can't even help myself!" She sobbed out miserably.  
  
Somewhere deep in his heart, he felt a strange warmth, warmth for this young girl who was so similar yet different from himself. He sighed, knowing he was going to regret this in the morning. Patting her back comfortingly, he spoke.  
  
"I'll make you a deal."  
  
Ami, who was just starting to calm, soothed by his gentle touches, moved back a bit to look up into his face, still sniffling slightly.  
  
"I'll help you with your training." She looked up at him questioningly. He smirked devilishly.  
  
"But only if you stop crying." She blinked a few times before a sweet smile spread across her tear-streaked face as she nodded her assent.   
  
A brief silence drifted over the two before Piccolo cleared his throat and Ami blushed hotly, moving away from him quickly, her hands drawn up to her chest.  
  
"You might want to freshen up a bit before I take you back to Capsule Corp," he suggested.  
  
Upon receiving no reply, he was about to repeat what he'd said when he heard her small voice.  
  
"Thank you."  
  
Watching her run down to the shore, Piccolo wondered what in the world he'd gotten himself into.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   
  
As the sun continued its ascent into the sky, Rei lay in bed, unable to go back to sleep. She sighed and threw the covers off the bed, sitting up and pondering her actions.  
  
'Well, Vegeta should be up by now,' she thought.  
  
"Might as well," she mumbled, getting up to brush her teeth.  
  
Dressed in her training outfit, her hair put up into a long ponytail, she swiftly made her way downstairs. Hardly paying attention to her surroundings, she made a beeline for the training room and entered somewhat impatiently.   
  
Inside was Vegeta, already training hard. Hardly breaking a sweat, he walked over, an eyebrow raised in plain amusement.  
  
"What are you doing here?"   
  
She sniffed hautily and replied, "I thought I'd get an early start on training."  
  
He laughed a while before stopping abruptly, his eyes narrowed at her. She took a step back unconsciously, bewildered at his look.  
  
"What?!"  
  
"How is it you can even stand?"  
  
"Huh?" She looked more confused than ever. He sighed in a resigned way.  
  
"Look, the gravity in here is set at twenty times earth's normal gravity."  
  
"Oh," She looked mildly surprised, but at least she understood now. Shrugging, she commented, "I'll have to ask Ami what the gravity on Mars is in respect to Earth, sometime."  
  
He snorted, indifferent.  
  
"Well, your lucky you happened to walk in on my warm up. Now, it's time for the real fun to begin." He smiled evily advancing on his younger sibling. Already in a defensive position, Rei tensed, ready for battle, a look of determination shining in her bright red eyes as she powered up.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   
  
Tap...tap tap...  
  
Serena stirred slightly in her sleep, going back to sleep instantly as she concluded it must be a bird tapping at the window.  
  
DONG  
  
Her eyes snapping open, Serena found herself staring into a pair of dark eyes and shrieked, falling backwards to the ground. She held her chest as she panted, trying to calm down and regain her breath. Standing a bit painfully, Serena rubbed her bottom as she got up to see Goku at the window, smilling sheepishly. Sighing, she went to open the door and greet the large Saiy-jin.  
  
"Uh...good morning Goku," she commented dryly. He laughed and scratched his head boyishly.  
  
"Eheh, sorry 'bout that. You okay?" She sighed once more.  
  
"Yeah. I guess I must have fallen asleep."  
  
"Guess so. Say, have you seen Vegeta?" He asked eagerly.  
  
"Um...no, but I imagine he's in training the gravity room Bulma told us about."  
  
"Oh, okay. Thanks!" He called out over his shoulder as he began to walk away.  
  
"H-hey, Goku!"   
  
"Yeah?" He turned around curiously.  
  
"Weren't you sick just a few days ago?"  
  
"Uh huh, but your friend Ami helped heal me. I'm just as good as new!" He stated matter of factly. She was shocked, but just for a second. It made sense, really, since Ami was the smartest of them all and would probably have spotted some way of healing him so quickly. She smiled after a moment.  
  
"I'm not surprised. Have a good training session," she bid him farewell, walking back to her room with a renewed sense of hope.   
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   
  
In the kitchen, Lita had proven herself a successful cook as various dishes lay strewn all over the table, a product of all the stress she'd been carrying. She sighed in contentment as she placed a tray of cookies into the oven, the last. Not having paid attention to how much food she'd actually been preparing in her haze of stress-induced cooking, she took one look at the pile of food sitting on the counter and began laughing in an embarassed manner, scratching her head as if to say, 'how did that happen?' She paused questioningly at the sound of the doorbell, but quickly dismissed it and turned around to start cleaning up.  
  
While washing pots and pans, she was surprised when a small raven-haired boy wandered in curiously.   
  
"Hey, that smells good," he commented.   
  
Now that she was over her initial shock, she smiled warmly and wiped her hands before walking over to the young boy and kneeling down to his height.  
  
"You can have some if you like, Gohan," she said, recalling his name.   
  
'That's right, he's Goku's son,' she remembered.  
  
"Gee, that's awful nice of you," he replied politely. She giggled slightly.  
  
"You probably don't remember me. We met a while ago. My name's Lita," she stuck out her hand in a friendly manner. He smiled and shook her hand.   
  
"I'm Gohan, though I guess you already know that," he blushed cutely.  
  
"You have a way with kids," a voice commented.  
  
They both looked up to see Chi Chi standing in the doorway with a smile on her face. Blinking, Lita stood up to face the woman, a confused look on her face.  
  
"What do you mean?" Chi Chi laughed.  
  
"Oh, my poor Gohan's so shy. He doesn't take well to strangers, not that you are one really," she replied casually. Lita smiled shyly.  
  
"You think so?"  
  
"Yeah, not to mention you can cook," the woman stated, looking pointedly at the table covered in food.   
  
"Oh, T-that! I really didn't mean to prepare so many things. Cooking's really just my way of relieving stress." Lita blushed a bright red.  
  
"Well, at any rate, I'm sure you'll make a great wife and mother some day."  
  
Lita looked up surprised, "Really? Thank you," she replied sincerely.  
  
"Your very welcome," she replied, laughing before turning to Gohan, "Come on Gohan, you need to study."  
  
"Aww, mom," he whined, looking at the food. Lita smiled and grabbed a container from the cupboard, placing in a few of each of the desserts. Handing them over to the young boy, she placed one hand on his shoulder.  
  
"Here," she guestured to the container full of sweets, "Have these as a treat from me; maybe you can come over and help me cook some other time. That is, if your mom says it's ok," she glanced at Chi Chi, who was smiling slightly. Gohan smiled widely and thanked her for the food. Lita smiled as she watched the two leave before turning around to continue cleaning up the kitchen.   
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Meanwhile, on the outskirts of town, a new being emerged to begin a new life filled with terror and death.   
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
  
So...what do you think? This thing took a bit to write (come to think of it, everthing does ^_^;;), but I'm finally getting somewhere!   
  
Anyway, there's one very important thing I'd like to ask all current readers (which would most likely be none by now *hangs head*):  
  
To all you Rei and Vegeta fans, despite my initial conviction, after looking ahead into the future plot of the story, I now find that if I DON'T put Rei and Vegeta together, they will almost certainly NOT be coupled with anyone else, seeing that I don't really like Bulma/Vegeta and I can't see who Rei'd go with *shrugs.* (Sorry to all you B/V fans!). I just hope people don't go all eww on me because of their obvious blood relation. I mean just look at Tenchi Muyo! Ayeka and Yosho? Even worse, Angel Sanctuary? Food for thought.   
  
To tell the truth, that is one of fav. crossover couples, so don't be too surprised if I do this anyway. However, if you DO have an opinion on this matter, please REVIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEW!!!!  
  
Thank you for listening,   
  
Crystal Rose ^_~ 


	11. Chapter 10

Uh...hey guys *laughs nervously* I'm back! *crickets chirp in the background* Right. Anyway, I'm sorry to those who were actually still reading this, but school's been evil and has been holding me prisoner for the past few months! It's only been a couple of weeks that I've started writing again since school became a little less smothering. I will admit, though, I don't think this chapter is quite up to par, but you'll see at the end that it IS leading up to some major action in the near future!!!  
  
Disclaimer: I'd love to say I possess ownership of Sailor Moon and Dragon Ball Z, but then again, I'd also love to say I possess immortality.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   
  
  
The Saiy-jin Scouts by Crystal Rose  
  
~ Chapter 10 ~  
  
Waking slowly from a deep sleep, Mina's eyes slowly fluttered open to reveal the sleeping form of Android Seventeen. Blinking in slight confusion, she looked up to find herself resting on the edge of the bed he currently occupied. She sat up and yawned, stretching luxuriously before letting out a sigh of pleasure. She rubbed her eyes wearily as she stood, overlooking the peaceful features of the android in silent admiration. Following the sharp lines of his face, she noticed a small smudge of chocolate stained the corner of his lips and thought back to the night before.  
  
After finally calming down, having lost the ability to possibly ever laugh again, Mina had managed to sit up with a great deal of difficulty, drained from the effects of the android's humorous words. She found him looking down at the ground in a mixture of indignant anger and embarrassment. Smiling in a good-natured way, she knelt down beside him, a slight glint of mischief sparkling in her eyes. She knew just the thing! She stared into his cold eyes, her own cheerfully bright.  
  
"Come now, cheer up! We'll go upstairs and have some sweets," she grinned as he looked up at her in a mixture of confusion and curiosity.  
  
"Why?" This caused the young girl's eyebrows to shoot up in surprise.  
  
"What do you mean why? Don't you want any? Unless..." she made a face, "...unless...you don't like sweets."   
  
The android managed to look somewhat sheepish as he stood, explaining that he'd never had the pleasure of experiencing sweets.   
  
"What in the world are sweets? I only knew of one activity that humans enjoyed so fervently...." the android mumbled under his breath, blushing as he tried to rid himself of the thought.  
  
Hearing this, Mina's face once again split into a wide smile as she eagerly grabbed his hand and headed upstairs, babbling about it being his 'first time'.  
  
"W-Wait!" He cried out, startled. Of course, if he'd really wanted to, he could have stopped her at any moment and refused to budge, but he figured it'd be easier to just go along with the energetic blond.   
  
"Hm?" She turned back slightly.  
  
"Wha- how? I mean...I don't understand..."   
  
Taking in the somewhat panicked tone of voice, Mina took a deep breath and reminded herself to slow down and not rush things. He was uncomfortable and most likely unsure about where he stood now, as well as how he should act. He'd come a long way, but would probably feel uncomfortable and insecure until he could find his 'niche' again, she lectured herself. With these new emotions, he'd now have to deal with a whole new facet of himself and would, in essence, become a different person. This knowledge in itself was frightening, she had to admit, and the fact that he'd allowed her to help him was remarkable. If it were her, she'd scream and cry and be stubborn until she, or who ever was in the immediate vicinity, knocked herself unconscious.  
  
'Then again,' she thought, studying android Seventeen's strong profile, 'he probably doesn't know what else to do except listen and follow ...hmph, that'll have to change.'   
  
"Would you like to come upstairs with me for some sweets?" She asked, leaving him the choice. He hesitated.  
  
"Uh..."  
  
"Don't worry, it won't hurt," she giggled, "I'll tell you what. If you want, we can go give it a try, and if you don't like it, I certainly won't force it upon you."  
  
She almost laughed aloud just thinking about it. He'd almost left none for herself, but despite that, she felt strangely happy that he'd enjoyed the chocolate so much. She had the feeling he didn't have much in life to enjoy. She sighed. She was sure he'd become a chocolate addict, if not at first taste, then definitely after the twenty some chocolate bars he'd consumed. She blushed slightly, not believing someone could eat so much sugar without becoming sick. Heck, he'd broken her record like it was nothing! Hopefully, there was a limit for the android, otherwise he'd be unstoppable. Caught up in her small fantasy involving a chocolate-hungry android rampaging through the city, she nearly missed Seventeen's wakening. Nearly.   
  
"Hey, how ya doin' sleepy head?"   
  
Her soft voice startled the android at first, causing him to jerk upright. A small pair of hands gently eased him back down. He grunted softly as he hit the bed, his eyes snapping open to meet Mina's smiling face.   
  
'That's right. That girl...' He turned to look up at the steel-plated ceiling, thinking about the past events. '...she saved me.'   
  
He felt much more composed today. More...normal he supposed the word would be, or as normal as an android could get.  
  
When his eyes began closing once more, Mina jumped onto the bed, an action that sent the unprepared android overboard. He climbed to his knees, giving the young girl a most disgruntled look from the other side of the bed. She simply giggled.  
  
"You should be getting up by now. We need to get ready for the new day!"  
  
"Where are we doing?"  
  
"Well, before you joined us, we'd been planning out training arrangements for the five of us girls and I haven't even properly introduced myself to you have I?" She suddenly realized.   
  
"I'm Mina, from the planet Venus." She curtsied gracefully, then held out her hand in welcome, as she'd seen Bulma and the others do when they first met. He took her hand, looking mildly surprised.  
  
"You're from another planet?" She nodded in confirmation.  
  
"Yes. To tell you the truth, we came from a different galaxy to find strong warriors who could train us so that we'd be ready to take on the enemy back at home," she explained.  
  
"So the meteor that crashed..."  
  
"Was actually our spaceship," she finished for him. He looked somewhat deep in thought.  
  
"But what help could the earthlings provide you with if they can't even defeat me or Eighteen. It's clear they're much weaker." She blushed from the indirect complement.  
  
"Well...you see, back from where I come from, we use magic. It's passed down from mother to daughter in most cases and we are all very well trained. However, without it...well our physical abilities are...less."  
  
"I see."   
  
That would explain the strange ki reading. This young girl sitting before him just couldn't possibly be stronger than him. Seventeen watched the strange girl who'd saved him, who'd...befriended him with...what? Just thinking about her made his skin tingle, whether or not that was a good or bad thing he didn't know, but whenever she was near he'd feel...strange. Then again, he'd been feeling strange ever since she first...hm...anyway, Mina was her name? Cute.  
  
A slight pressure on his back caused the android to look back. There was Mina, draped over his shoulders, her face mere inches from his. He blinked. What was she doing there?  
  
"Hello! Venus to Seventeen. Are you there?"   
  
He'd just stared at her, his face at point blank range. A somewhat unnerving thing, but what a face. She mentally sighed in admiration. Too bad she was currently playing babysitter. Even through the soft fabric of his shirt, she could feel the strong muscles that lay beneath them. She was promptly brought back to reality as his even voice cut through her thoughts.  
  
"What?"   
  
She removed herself from him and stood abruptly.   
  
"Come on. It's time to join the others," Mina smiled, holding out her hand.  
  
He hesitated. Where did he stand now? He still wasn't sure. He knew he owed this girl his life and loyalty, but...did that include the others? He looked up to her, hoping somehow that she could help him with his dilemma. The smile on her face wavered, her lips pursing into a pout. He looked away in shame, feelings of guilt coursing through him, but before he knew it, she was in his arms, holding him tightly. After a moment of her holding him, her hands stroking his back in a comforting manner, he returned the embrace and held onto her tightly, confused yet grateful. Unable to stop himself, he buried his face in her shining golden mane, seeking answers in the comfort she offered him. Her voice was soft and gentle when she finally spoke.  
  
"What are you so worried about?" A hint of amusement seeped into her voice.  
  
The android flinched slightly.  
  
"I'm...not afraid," he answered tightly, defensively.  
  
"I never said you were," Mina giggled quietly, moving back to study his face. Reaching out a hand, she brushed a strand of dark hair away from his face, which now wore a questioning look. She blushed.  
  
"You're hair is so...pretty," she whispered.   
  
"I suppose, though not more so than yours," he replied.   
  
Mina blinked, not expecting an answer. A large grin broke out on her face.   
  
"You think so?" He threw her an agitated look, as if repetition were sin.  
  
"Good." Now it was the android's turn to blink as she pulled him up to his feet.  
  
"What..."  
  
"Come on. Everyone will love you once they see how charming you are, and if they don't..." She paused, her bright eyes glinting dangerously, "they'll have to answer to me!"   
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   
  
Waking to the sound of birds chirping beneath the morning sun, Serena thought the peaceful silence and tranquility that greeted her could almost justify the foolish hope that swelled within. Foolish because she knew the odds. Her mother had always taught her never to run from the truth, that she should face up to reality. Living in denial was no way of living, not to mention it meant being a disgrace to all around you, something she could never allow. So, as she went about her habitual morning routine, she forced down the tiny spark of hope that had burned so brightly, shielding it with cold hard facts about their impossible situation in hopes of preventing it from growing any further. With time, it would eventually be squelched as quickly as it had come.  
  
Rushing downstairs in a fairly calm state of mind, Serena turned at the sudden succession of noises coming from the kitchen, followed by a loud sigh. She smiled, easily recognizing the occupant. Walking towards the entrance, she carefully stuck her head out for a small peek. Sure enough, there was Lita in the midst of some grand work of art, no doubt. Perfect, really, since she was so hungry.  
  
"Lita." The young chef looked up questioningly at her life-long friend and blushed.  
  
"Uh...S-Serena," she stuttered, feeling much like the child she was when her mother had caught her trying to pick a fight with the son of a palace guard. "I was just uh helping with breakfast and, I mean, I felt obliged to repay the Briefs, so..."   
  
"Oh, stop it. You know it's common knowledge among us that you have a cooking fetish." The tall brunette sighed.  
  
"Common knowledge to you four..."  
  
"As well as the many others who've experienced your culinary skills. Come on, we all know what a wonderful chef you are." There was a brief silence as Lita, her cheeks tinted a rosy red, struggled to say something to her long-time friend.  
  
"Uh...so, what are you doing up so early?"  
  
"Me? I could ask the same about you, you know. And it's almost 6 o clock, not nearly as early as you seem to be claiming...Well anyway, I just couldn't sleep anymore. I mean, with all the excitement you'd think we were already in war," her voice trembled slightly, "I...keep thinking about home and...everything, everybody. This has all just become so complicated since I...since we..."  
  
She trailed off, at a loss for words to express her distress and concern. Luckily, they were all in the same proverbial 'boat' and did not need words to explain the emotions that ran through both young women; although each understood that, Lita could feel her friend's need to address the issue. She sighed for the umpteenth time that day and said the only thing that came to mind.  
  
"Hey, let's eat!"   
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Come on. I made a ton of food and you must be hungry."  
  
Smiling broadly at her somewhat confused companion, Lita hurriedly steered Serena towards the mountain of edible delights she'd created throughout the night. Now, she really was speechless as she stared in open-mouth wonder at the mass of food that covered the counter and table, and even some chairs. As Serena stared in shock, Lita laughed nervously as she fiddled with her hair.   
  
"Uh...I was kind of bored, so I decided to cook something..."   
  
Finally shaking off her shock, Serena giggled, a sly smile on her face.  
  
"Is that how it is? Are you sure you weren't trying to break some sort of record set by Atrisha the Jun?" Lita bowed her head in embarrassment. Atrisha was a famous professional culinary artist back on planet Jupiter, well known for her creative dishes and impeccable sense of complementary foods. The nickname she earned was a part of her great reputation: Atrisha the Jun, which literally meant 'beautiful strength,' a name that fit the woman some men called a goddess. Well, a goddess of cuisine, not to mention Lita's most worshipped idol.   
  
"The truth is, I needed to vent and...well, you know how I can get a bit carried away."   
  
"Do I ever," Serena agreed heartily as she glanced at the food again, all the heaviness having been lifted from her shoulders, or so it seemed.   
  
The two friends had just sat down at the now clean table with a few choice items when they heard a loud banging coming from the other room. Quickly getting up, Lita offered to go see who was at the door and quickly headed into the living room with Serena peering after her curiously. As the door was opened, the tall brunette quickly leapt aside to avoid the falling Yamucha, who landed with a resounding thud on his face.  
  
"Are you alright?"   
  
Lita quickly helped the dazed man to his feet as laughter burst forth from Krillin, who stood behind him while Puar floated above worriedly.  
  
"Don't worry about him," Krillin said, still laughing.  
  
"Hey, what smells so good?" Yamucha asked, sniffing the air.   
  
"Oh, well Lita here just made breakfast. You should join us. Lita's the best cook around our side of the universe."   
  
"Oh, no. It's nothing really. I just made a few simple things and..." she trailed off, still blushing, as the two men had already headed into the kitchen. She followed them in, noting their shocked expressions with trepidation.  
  
"Um...I know it's probably not anything you'd be used to eating for breakfast or anything. If you want I can cook something else more to your tastes? Or maybe-" her rambling continued as Yamucha took a bite of her homemade muffins, a thoughtful look on his face.  
  
"Hey, this is fantastic!" Krillin exclaimed after a bite.  
  
"-something more fancy..."  
  
"Do you mind if we dig in?"  
  
"-or I could huh? Oh no, go ahead. Eat whatever you like. I don't think I could ever get rid of all this..." Lita mumbled, staring dumbfounded as the two sat down to eat. She was shaken from her stupor when Krillin chose to speak again.  
  
"Oh, and don't worry about the food. It'll never go to waste around here," he laughed. Not quite understanding what he meant, the two girls exchanged glances and shrugged.   
  
"Hey, girls. What's all the commotion?"   
  
Standing in the doorway was Bulma in a pair of jeans and a white blouse, a curious expression on her face. She soon joined the others who were obviously enjoying themselves as they partook of the large 'breakfast' Lita had created. The young girl sat blushing heavily as a hoard of compliments were thrown her way across the table.   
  
"Mm, wow! I'm stuffed," Yamucha declared as he leaned back in his seat.  
  
"Yeah, me too," Bulma sighed, "I'm so envious."  
  
"Of what?" Lita asked with a puzzled look.  
  
"Well, when Goku and I went adventuring, we'd always eat prepackaged food, if you can call it that. At least you guys'll always have Lita here to cook something up."  
  
"If only it were true," Serena smiled ruefully, "Lita rarely gets the chance to cook, though I suppose it makes it all the more special when she does."  
  
"Speaking of the others, where are they?"  
  
Bulma's casual question was answered with silence as they both fidgeted, thinking about the events from the night before.  
  
"Girls, did you get into a fight?"  
  
"Um...in a manner of speaking..." Lita started as Serena sighed and looked down into her lap.  
  
"Well, I suppose you all have the right to know about last night."  
  
"Last night?" Yamucha began to stand, "Did something happen? Did those androids--"   
  
"Now hold on," Lita stood, her hands held up as if to ward him off, "Just sit down. Nothing happened, or perhaps I should say nobody was harmed or injured."  
  
"You see. Yesterday, android 17 awoke and--"   
  
"WHAT?!" Bulma shrieked. "Where is he?! I'll call Goku!"  
  
"Bulma, please! He's being contained," Serena explained gently.  
  
"For the moment at least," Lita mumbled.  
  
"What about android 18?" Everyone turned to Krillin, whose face turned bright red from their scrutiny. He'd been so quiet, they'd almost forgotten about him.  
  
"She has not awakened yet to my knowledge and was not involved in yesterday's accident."  
  
"Accident? I thought you said--"   
  
"Yes, yes. Forgive me. Anyway, Android 17 had awakened and blasted out of the rejuvenation tank. Coincidentally, Mina happened to be there and was caught in the blast. In his confusion, he attacked her, which is how we found the two." Here she paused as Bulma wasted no time in jumping in with a load of questions.   
  
"So what happened? I mean you took care of him didn't you? He's gone, right? Serena?!" Seeing as the blue-haired woman was about to stand once more, Serena quickly answered, trying to appease her.  
  
"Yes, we defeated him," another pause, "but..."  
  
"But?"  
  
"He hasn't been destroyed," Lita jumped in, "They, I mean we...we decided to spare him."  
  
While Krillin looked somewhat relieved, though mostly neutral, Yamucha didn't seem to know how to react. Bulma, however, did.  
  
"You what?! How could you? He...he's evil! They're evil!!-"  
  
"Heh, you could say that about a certain monkey you like too..." Yamucha muttered quietly under his breath, though apparently not quiet enough as the woman rounded on him, baring her sharp tongue.  
  
"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!"  
  
The two girls sighed as chaos struck.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   
  
"YAA!"  
  
The large ball of fire-based ki shot out from slender hands as the Saiy-jin prince quickly dodged and parried with a good sized ki ball of his own. Rei quickly leapt out of the way, though to no avail as Goku struck her from behind. The three fought against each other, trying to hold their own against the other two opponents, though Rei could swear the two males were teaming up against her. However innocent Goku may have seemed to her, he was no pushover and neither was her brother; she reveled in the small spark of pride this thought inspired. Unfortunately, her straying thoughts were her down fall, literally, as she crashed into the floor, head first. She could just barely hear Goku and Vegeta land soon after, as she struggled to raise herself from the hard concrete surface.   
  
"Hey Vegeta. I think she's had enough." She recognized Goku's deep voice as he stood over her unmoving body, casting a large shadow upon her.   
  
"Get up," Vegeta nudged her not so gently in the ribs.   
  
"Damn it Vegeta," she hissed in pain, "Just lay off already. You made your point!"  
  
"Hn," He grunted, waiting as she carefully stood. "Hurry up, Kakkarot and I still have training to do."   
  
Just as he said that, a large roar filled the room. Both Rei and Vegeta looked about in alarm as Goku laughed, smiling sheepishly.  
  
"Actually Vegeta, I think I'm gonna have to pass. Maybe later?"  
  
"Che, whatever." The irate prince began throwing random kicks and punches as the two headed out of the training room.   
  
As the two exited, Goku turned to her suddenly. "Hey, how did you get Vegeta to train with you?"  
  
"Huh, what do you mean? I just went in there," she replied simply, gesturing to the gravitation room. The Saiy-jin shook his head in disbelief, the large smile never leaving his face.  
  
"Wow. Vegeta doesn't like to train with anyone except for me, on occasion." Rei seemed shocked.  
  
"Really?"   
  
"Yeah and..."  
  
GROWL  
  
"Uh..." Goku blushed as Rei smiled and patted him on the back.  
  
"Go on. I think I can smell Lita's cooking."  
  
"Uh huh," he mumbled, darting towards the kitchen, their conversation forgotten.   
  
Rei smiled as the older man rushed to the kitchen. Heading upstairs, she pondered what he'd said. Those words had had a profound effect, striking an odd feeling within her. Was it true that he never trained with the others? If so, then was she an exception? Someone special and worthy in his eyes? She shook her head as she came to her door. She didn't understand why the need for his approval was suddenly so demanding when just a few days ago, she couldn't have cared what the ruffian had to say. There was just something odd about her older brother. A tingle ran down her spine at those words. It was ridiculous really, but just acknowledging their kinship brought her a deep sense of joy and content, one she had never felt before.  
  
'Or one you don't remember feeling,' a tiny voice whispered.   
  
No, maybe she was over-analyzing this. Gathering her spare clothes and the towel lent to her by Bulma, she headed towards the nearest shower. The facilities were spotless; a large tub sat in the corner of the room, curtains draping down as a source of cover. Quickly shedding her soiled clothes, Rei stepped into the tub, turning the water on hot. Soon, steam filled the shower as she drenched herself blissfully in the scalding water. As she lathered up, she couldn't help but think about her enigmatic brother again as her thoughts kept turning back to the name he'd called her that one day. It kept echoing in her head, nagging her as if therein lay a crucial importance that she couldn't grasp.  
  
Leitanna...  
  
She sighed. No doubt, there was always something missing with her mysterious past, but how could this...this name be a part of it? That would mean the impossible. She didn't know Vegeta all that well, but she'd thought she'd accurately read the shock on his face when she'd first revealed herself a couple nights before. Even so. What if he had known her past self? What could it mean?   
  
'Well, one thing's for sure. If my suspicions are correct, then he's one of the greatest actors I've ever met.' She scowled as she turned to leave the steam-filled room.   
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   
  
Down in the Kitchen, Lita and Serena had finally calmed things down a bit. In other words, the girls were now effectively restraining both Yamucha and Bulma as insults were thrown back and forth between the two. Krillin sat to the side, watching in amusement as Puar sat on the table munching sweets. A few minutes into the yelling competition, Goku came in and grabbed a few choice morsels, completely ignoring the screaming as he turned to leave, waving goodbye to the two girls. The argument was quickly put to an end, however, as the Saiy-jin Prince himself sauntered in upon one of Yamucha's charming remarks about a certain evil monkey. The man quickly cowered and sought refuge behind Lita as Vegeta snorted with contempt, crossing over to sit at the table. He quickly began inhaling the food before him, diminishing the small mountain that had formed literally overnight.   
  
"Uh, seeing as you guys are all done here. I was thinking that maybe I'd just...uh..." Krillin paused as the others looked at him curiously.  
  
"I mean maybe I should...go check up on Eighteen...you know...to make sure everything's alright and all..." The man laughed nervously, his face beet red.  
  
"Huh?" Lita asked, not really understanding. Serena, however, quickly caught on and saved the poor man from being further embarrassed.  
  
"Yes, that would very much be appreciated, Krillin. After all, we can never be too careful, right Lita?" Serena nudged the other girl, who nodded quickly in agreement.  
  
"Oh yeah," the tall girl rubbed the back of her neck, mumbling as he left, "I guess..."   
  
"Well anyway," Bulma stood from the table, grabbing hold of Yamucha in the process, "Since we're done here, we'll just be going now!"  
  
"Hey, wait! What do you mean we? I-ouch!"   
  
Yamucha was quickly silent as Bulma pulled him by the ear towards her lab.   
  
"Come on, there's a lot of work to do."  
  
"What does that have to do with me?"  
  
"Oh be quiet! I'll bet dad's already hard at work in there."  
  
The bickering pair drifted down the hallway with Puar floating lazily behind them. The two girls shrugged and sat down at the table, watching as Vegeta shoveled food into his mouth nonstop. This continued for quite a while until the Kitchen door swung open to announce Rei's arrival. She noted the scene and wrinkled her nose in disgust.  
  
"Good morning."  
  
Rei turned and found herself on the other end of Serena's patented smile. After a moment, her lips reluctantly twitched upward as her friend's smile, on top of the morning's physical exertions, seemed to have rid her of all her pent up frustration and anger. Seeing the cold melt from her features, Lita smiled as well, standing to approach her raven-haired friend.  
  
"Hey, why don't you join us? You can't say you're not hungry."  
  
At this, Rei truly smiled. Out of all of them, Lita would be the best at understanding her frustration. While more levelheaded than the brunette, Rei found that the two girls often shared the same views and opinions. However, as she said, the two chose to react in drastically different ways, as shown last night. To her credit, though, Lita would never hold it against Rei. Or at least, she hadn't yet.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   
  
Down in the lab, Krillin stood motionless before Eighteen's rejuvenation tank. His eyes roaming the features of her sharply angled face, he was silent except for the soft intake of breath.  
  
'Wow.'  
  
That was the first thought that entered his mind as he stared at the perfection that was Eighteen. He'd been entranced the first moment he'd seen her on the battlefield. Cool and confident, she'd been the very picture of calm. He'd watched her movements, sleek and graceful, as she stood there alone in his eyes. He was no fool. He knew how ridiculous it was really, but he just couldn't help himself. She was simply so alluring, so irresistible...  
  
A sudden creaking noise caught his attention as a door opened on his right. He immediately took on a defensive stance as two figures emerged.   
  
"Oh, Krillin. It's you," came a surprised voice.  
  
He sighed in relief as Mina stepped out from the shadows, then cautiously flicked a glance towards Seventeen, who stood just behind her. He knew the android could easily kill either one of them at any time and was decidedly uncomfortable in such a situation. It was strange though. He could have sworn something was different about the bloodthirsty android. Maybe it was because he wasn't actually engaging in any violent activities at the moment. No, that wasn't it. Hmm...  
  
"So, what are you doing down here?" Mina's voice seemed to cut through the darkness and right into his brain.   
  
"Oh uh...you know," he smiled and let loose another nervous laugh as his face tinted red again.  
  
He watched as one delicate brow lifted before a mischievous grin formed on the young girl's face. At the same time, he noticed android Seventeen's face had also changed from its previous impassive look, a small spark of interest now registering as Mina moved towards him, still grinning widely. Krillin was beginning to feel slightly nervous as the grin on her face began to look somewhat sadistic. He flinched as she placed her elbow onto his shoulder, faking nonchalance.  
  
"So Krillin, I see you've taken an interest in Eighteen..." she said, immediately slipping into the role of matchmaker.  
  
"Uh..." he began to sweat as the object of his obsession was brought into discussion.  
  
"Oh come on! Admit it. You think she's absolutely divine, don't you?"  
  
"What?!"  
  
"You'd love to marry her, wouldn't you?" she continued, "Buy a house and have lots of babies-"  
  
"No! No, I mean...I mean, aren't you going a bit too far with this?"   
  
Mina stopped for a moment to stare seriously at the short man, who was blushing a dark crimson, and burst out into laughter. As she laughed jovially besides him, Krillin heaved a large sigh of relief. He was just about to say his farewell when he felt someone's eyes on him. Turning, he was surprised to find Seventeen's eyes riveted on him in a most disturbing way. He began to fidget as he felt the android's stare burn into him. It seemed as if he was on the verge of anger and it would be best not to push his chances, Krillin thought as he slowly backed away. Throwing a quick 'See ya' over his shoulder, he turned and made a hasty retreat, rushing out of the lab and back into the kitchen.  
  
"Okay..."   
  
Mina blinked at the suddenly unoccupied space beside her where Krillin had been and shrugged. It was odd, but she'd felt strangely irritated with Krillin just a moment ago. It didn't make any sense really, since she'd taken a liking to the guy from the first moment they'd met and bore him no grudges. Maybe his laugh had been the cause of her irritation? No that can't be right, and now that she thought about it, she hadn't really felt all that irritated, but...  
  
Another feeling, similar yet stronger, flashed through her just then, before she turned about to peer at Seventeen. It was anger, jealous anger that was now tinged with slight fear. Her stomach seemed to churn as she watched Seventeen curiously. He stared back uncertainly, the tension growing. Finally...  
  
"What is it?"   
  
She blinked and shook her head before heading for the exit, lost in her thoughts. The android obediently followed. However, as the two reentered the kitchen, Mina was surprised to see nobody there. Even stranger, there were plates laid out on the table with food that was only half eaten or barely touched. It looked like a classic scene from "Lost," a book she'd read back home in which people had been abducted by strange beings from another universe. She sighed and wondered where the other girls were. Maybe they'd be able to reach some sort of understanding, though hopefully a better understanding than the one she and Rei shared.   
  
Sneaking a look at Seventeen, she immediately felt guilty for her recent cold behavior. She hadn't really noticed at the time, but she now realized that she had come off as rather cold and indifferent back in the lab. She could tell he'd become slightly withdrawn again, his mask slipped firmly over his face to conceal any and all emotion. Not even any of the usual arrogance or scorn could be seen. She mentally sighed at her stupidity.   
  
'A few hours into this and I've already erred.'  
  
She reached out to him tentatively, hesitating when she reached his arm before enveloping it in her warm embrace. She quietly noted in the back of her mind how pleasantly muscular his arm was as he shifted to look down at her. She quickly turned to smile up at him, the look on her face gentle and almost apologetic as he continued to stare at her blankly. However neutral his face may have seemed, his surprise was obvious to her.   
  
"Hey, how about we go sample some of Lita's cooking over there. I know I saw a bunch of chocolate desserts you'd just love."   
  
After a few moments, the android shrugged and quietly followed her to the table. With joy, she could feel the relief that flooded him, a perfect reflection of her own relieved happiness as they sat down to snack. They hadn't sat down for long, though, when Krillin burst in and rushed to the phone.   
  
"Krillin what's the matter?"  
  
The small man jumped at the sound of her voice, having neglected to notice her at first in his preoccupation. He struggled to explain as he dialed the number.  
  
"There's been some sort of attack in Ginger Town. The people have all just disappeared. Problem is that we don't have any idea what we're up against, though I can assure you that this is just the beginning. I've to get a hold of Goku! He'll be able to-hello? Can I speak to Goku? Goku, turn on the TV, channel 9. You've got to see this..."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   
  
Um...Yeah well that's about it! See you guys in the next chapter! Oh, and if you can't figure it out already, I've decided not to pursue a relationship between Rei and Vegeta. *sigh* I'm such a softie. I just can't say no to my readers...well most of the time anyway ^_^. Sorry for the horrible wait. I know how you feel. Hopefully finals will be over soon, so that I can pick up my writing a bit. Hope you enjoyed this odd bit.  
  
Crystal Rose ^_~ 


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